And Then Something New Will Begin
by Jammequin
Summary: The world's human population has been ravaged by disease. There are survivors but most of them are hidden away or have turned to violence and anarchy in order to live. How will our favourite criminal and Agent Keen cope in this new reality... AU only in canon divergence of story, characters remain the same.
1. Chapter 1

Red sat atop the crest of the hill, surveying the small valley below. He had sat up here every day, as long as he could manage, for over three months now. Sometimes he had to go hunting or fishing or simply gather water from the well at the nearby farm but as much time as he could possibly spare he sat up here, watching carefully for signs of movement.

The last six months had passed by in the blink of an eye and yet, paradoxically, it seemed like years had passed since the 'old world' had ended. Red could no more imagine going shopping in a supermarket or taking a relaxing trip out on a boat than he could being able to fly to the moon. It was terrifying how things had all just disintegrated so fast.

Just as he was about to give it up for another day and head back to the shack he now called home, a small dot appeared at the far end of the valley, about two miles away. He stared at it intently as it grew in size unforgivably slowly, cautiously making its way towards his position. Hunkering down behind a rock so as not to reveal himself just yet, he stared unblinkingly at the dot and held his breath.

SIX MONTHS EARLIER

It didn't end with either a bang or a whimper. Nothing as prosaic as that. It ended in chaos and fire and blood and violence and long, slow, painful death rattles. It was horrific. Much, much worse than anyone could ever have envisaged. The virus, seemingly come from the Far East, spread by birds, had infected nearly 95% of the world's human population in about six weeks. The only people who hadn't succumbed at that point were people living in far flung communities away from 'civilisation', the very few naturally immune and the very lucky ones who had been given a hastily developed vaccine. Some got the virus and survived but it had a 98% mortality rate. Earth's human population was near annihilated in the blink of an eye.

In Washington D.C. it had been perhaps more brutal than elsewhere. The government responsible for keeping its people safe were right there in the early days, and so were able to take the brunt of people's fury as so little was done to stop the spread of what had been hastily dubbed 'The Plague'. However, even the President and senators and all the public faces of the country's leadership didn't stick around that long. It was clear that the virus was going to bring about complete anarchy. And even though all political leaders, the military and government officials were priorities for the vaccine, along with emergency services, there was no way they would be safe in the city anymore. The decision was made to relocate the government to two aircraft carriers, some thirty miles out to sea. There they would fiddle as Rome burnt.

Liz, Ressler and the rest of the task force had all been given the vaccine very early on due to their jobs. Red had, of course, procured himself some as well as some for Dembe and his family and a select few of his other associates. There just wasn't enough to get for everyone. Red's money was fast becoming defunct. Nobody wanted money anymore, they wanted protection and food. They wanted the vaccine themselves. Red was lucky to know one criminal greedy enough who chose a million dollars over a dose of the cure for himself and from him Red got what he could.

Red was sitting in his Bethesda apartment with Dembe when the news came through that the FBI HQ downtown had been besieged by hordes of people, desperate for the vaccine. Word had gotten out that federal employees were being given the first doses and as desperate people started to cluster around various buildings where such people would be, the mood turned ugly very quickly. Red listened to the radio in his apartment and the blood drained from his face, his heart sinking deep to the bottom of his body. Liz was there. The Post Office had been mothballed for now, Red's list of criminals never to be a judiciary priority ever again.

By the time Red and Dembe had fought their way through the streets to get there it was all over bar the shouting. The whole building was in flames, there was no way they could get in. It seemed that a lot of people had made it out first and some of them were now engaged in running battles with the looters and rioters who had done the damage. Red and his loyal friend combed the area and the wreck of the building for over two days but they found no trace of Liz or anyone else they knew. At last Red turned away from the building. He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath before turning to Dembe.

'Okay, my friend. Liz is either dead or elsewhere. For now, let's just get you to your daughter's house'

And with that, they left Washington. Red's mind was in a turmoil, he had no idea what to do now. He had nothing left to live for. But, as promised, he helped Dembe get to his daughter and granddaughter. Once there, he rested up for a few days. And as he rested, he formulate the only plan he could. In the absence of any form of communication, phones and the internet having been down for some time now, he would have to set out to find Liz on his own. He would go anywhere he could think that she might be. He wouldn't give up until he found her or found out what had happened to her. His only purpose in life was the same as the one he had had before all this; protect his beloved Elizabeth with everything he had.


	2. Chapter 2

Five minutes later and the dot was now almost close enough to identify with confidence. However, despite the fact that Red knew in his head that it was indeed Lizzy down there, his heart wouldn't let him believe it. He brought out the small pair of binoculars he'd found in the cabin he'd been living in and, with a trembling hand, he brought them to his eyes.

The figure down on the valley floor was definitely her. Pulling the binoculars away for a moment, he gazed down on her with his naked eye, drinking in the realisation that she was alive. And not only that, but she had found him. Then something occurred to him, something he'd not yet clocked as he was too overwhelmed with relief to notice before. Hurriedly he looked through the glasses again. Yes, she was definitely limping. And not only that but her face bore the signs of having been in a fight. She had a darkness around one eye and although she was still too far away to know for sure, Red thought she had a split lip as well.

Returning the glasses to his pocket he got to his feet and started to head on down the hill towards her. He was walking carefully at first as the loose rocks up there were just begging to trip him up. However, once he had made it past them to the grass he quickly broke into a jog that just as quickly became a run. He needed to hold her in his arms right now.

As he got closer to her, he saw that she had spotted him. At first she had stopped dead and just stared but upon recognising his familiar silhouette, she had altered her course slightly to head towards him. Her limp meant that she couldn't go any faster even had she wanted to.

Red ran straight up to her and took a gentle hold of each of her shoulders. For a few seconds he just stared into her eyes, drinking in the sight of her alive. And then he pulled her close and held her as tightly as he dared. Her arms came up around him too and they stood like that for about a minute before Red realised that Liz was crying. He pulled back from her and looked into her now watery eyes.

'Oh, sweetheart, don't cry'

Liz laughed and reached her hand up to his face, running her finger along the top of his cheek.

'I'll stop if you will'

Looking down at the dampness on her finger, Red smiled. He had had no idea he'd been crying too. But he didn't care. He couldn't recall the last time he'd felt such happiness and relief and hope. Waiting out here in the middle of nowhere for someone he was about ninety-nine percent sure would never come was not something he could envisage himself doing for long without going crazy. He pulled her back into his embrace and they continued just to stand there together for some minutes.

Eventually curiosity got the better of them both and they started talking all at once. Questions flew out of both their mouths simultaneously and neither heard what the other had said. They both stopped abruptly and laughed at themselves.

'I tell you what, sweetheart. Come back to my current safe house', Red said with a wink, 'and we'll get you some food and water and maybe a wash. Then we can talk about all this….', he finished with a flourish of his arm, indicating the 'world' around them.

'Sounds good. I've not eaten much for some time'

'I can see that. You're emaciated, my dear. Well, I can help you with that. Follow me'.

Red turned and headed back to the other end of the valley, although he had Liz's hand firmly in his grip as he walked. He wasn't letting her out of his sight for some time. And he definitely didn't want to stop relishing the feel of her skin under his fingertips.

It took them quite a while to get back to Red's shack due to Liz's limp. Along the way, he established that she had been in a fight a few days earlier, battling with some looters in a shop about twenty miles from here over the last few packets of chips that had been in the storeroom. The limp had come from earlier, her leg buckling under her as she had run from a gang of thieves who were intent on stealing whatever she may have had on her. Thankfully, her falling had actually saved her from them as she had disappeared down behind a car out of sight and they had run past.

Once back inside his dwelling, Red helped Liz to sit down on the bed that was in the front room of the shack. He then hastened off to find her some water and an apple. There were fruit trees aplenty nearby as one of the local farms had had a bountiful orchard. As Liz bit into the apple, Red looked around for what else he could offer her immediately. He had cooked up a batch of potatoes the previous night (again ransacked from the farm) and brought her a bowl of cold mash.

'Mmm, thank you Red. This apple and cold slop is genuinely the nicest thing I've eaten for weeks'

Red laughed and sat down next to her, 'I'm glad you like it. It's not my finest cuisine, however. I caught a fish this morning I was going to cook for dinner. And it's huge so there'll be plenty. And I need to go check some of the traps I've set. With any luck, we may have a rabbit or something for tomorrow'.

Liz's stomach rumbled at the mention of meat and they both laughed at its timing. Leaving Liz to finish her food, Red went off to find something he could clean her face with. Returning with a cloth soaked in the water he had boiled for drinking, he sat back down next to her and started to rub gently at the dirt and dried blood that was on her face. After a few minutes, she looked much better and he sat back and smiled at her.

'Well, that'll do for starters. I'm afraid I have no amenities here to offer you in terms of a shower or running water at all. But there is a well at the local farm so water itself is not an issue. And there's a decidedly antique bathtub in the other room. I'll boil up some water so you can at least have some kind of a wash'

Liz smiled at him gratefully. Even though she had gotten used to being filthy and no doubt stinking to high heaven, the idea of a bath sounded blissful to her.

Red started the fire going in the fireplace and placed the water over the logs in a kettle. He then turned and looked at Liz questioningly.

'So, you found my note then? Which one, may I ask?'

'Which one? Oh, of course, you left more than one….. the one in your Bethesda apartment. It was the only place I went to look for you. How many did you leave?'

'Ten. In your old house, your apartment, a few of my safe houses you'd know, the Post Office….. It was all I could think of in terms of communicating with you. I'm so relieved you remembered exactly where I meant in terms of this place. It was potentially the safest locale I could think of. I needed somewhere remote in terms of towns nearby but also not too far from DC. And the arrest you made here was memorable enough that I was confident you'd find your way back okay'

'Ha! Yes, that was one for my autobiography. Finding this place was okay at first. I just followed the roads out of DC. But when I got nearer, there were fewer signs. I just had to kinda direct myself by instinct. Thankfully I remembered those wind turbines on the next hill otherwise I'd have been walking in circles for days'.

Red beamed at her, so happy that his plan had worked. And that Liz had had the nous to find this place without a map or a compass. He had managed to drive here by avoiding the major roads and taking the back ways but he had had the benefit of a road atlas. His car was now safely hidden under some branches about thirty yards from the shack.

'So if there's a farm nearby, why aren't you staying there? This place is kinda….. Cosy?'

'Yes, it is rather. However it's much safer than a farm or some large building that may draw people. Anyone seeing this shack may well decide to come investigate further but it's so dilapidated that there's a good chance they may not. And of course, hidden away in these trees, I'm hoping it won't be spotted at all if I'm lucky'

'That makes sense. But the farm has food?'

'It has orchards and obviously this is the best time of year for such things. There were also some potatoes and carrots to be salvaged. Sadly all the animals had starved by the time I got here….. Poor things couldn't get out of their barns. However, my survival training has kicked in rather surprisingly well. My traps are catching plenty and the fishing rod I found at the farm is wonderful. I've not failed to make a catch once!'

Liz smiled at him, enjoying his pride in his achievements. Seeing him again and seeing him healthy and safe was something she really hadn't dared hope would come about. Although she had kept telling herself on the way here that if anyone was going to make it work in this new world it was Raymond Reddington.

Suddenly her exhaustion caught up with her. That and her first full belly for months. She sighed and lay back on the bed, realising that she was going to fall asleep even if she tried not to. Closing her eyes, she pulled her legs up onto the bed and relished the softness of the mattress beneath her.

Red walked over and moved her plate away, reaching down to the foot of the bed to pull the blanket there up over her. Just as he had placed it gently under her chin, her hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

'Red, would you lie with me? I… I just wanna enjoy being close to someone safe again after all this time. I think I need that'

He sat down on the bed next to her wordlessly, toeing off his shoes. Turning towards her he lifted the blanket and moved beneath it so he could lie next to her. Gathering her in his arms, he tucked her head under his chin and rested the side of his head on the top of hers.

'I think I need that too, Lizzy'.


	3. Chapter 3

To Red's surprise, he had dozed off. When he awoke, he glanced at his watch to see he'd slept for nearly two hours. Gently removing himself from Liz's embrace and pulling the blanket back over her, he slipped out the front door and headed out to check his animal traps, carrying a bucket with him so he could fetch fresh water too. He didn't want to leave Liz to wake alone but neither did he want to wake her as she was clearly exhausted. And with dark soon approaching, he needed to get this done now.

Liz rolled over in her sleep and burrowed down deeper into the pillow she was lying on. But then her brain realised what was going on. A pillow? How on earth had she…..? Her eyes flew open and she sat up and stared about her, struggling to recall exactly where she was. When she remembered she drew a huge sigh of relief and allowed her heart a few moments to stop racing. She got up gingerly from the bed and pulled her shoes back on. Briefly looking in the two other rooms of the shack, she confirmed that Red wasn't there. She wasn't too worried as she knew he wouldn't have gone far but she headed out to the front of the shack anyway just to see if she could see him.

Having had a quick look about all four sides of the shack, she saw nothing and so went to get herself a cup of water and another apple before settling herself in the rickety chair that was positioned by the front door. It was so peaceful here she couldn't quite believe she was safe. Her body had become so conditioned to being scared and on edge for the past few months that this didn't feel real yet. However, she knew that if Red had been living here for so long, he would've anticipated any and all foreseeable danger. She forced herself to relax and, leaning back in the chair, she closed her eyes.

As Red approached the shack back from his 'hunting and gathering' expedition, he spied Liz sitting on the front stoop. Not wanting to scare her with his approach he called out loudly before he had a chance to startle her, 'Hey there sleepyhead, your takeout is being delivered'.

Liz opened her eyes and beamed back at the approaching figure. He had a heavy looking bucket of water in one hand and two dead rabbits in the other. She smiled to herself at how quickly and yet seamlessly the once dapper and sophisticated Raymond Reddington had adapted to this new world but she knew it shouldn't come as a surprise.

'Hey yourself. Whatcha got?'

'The makings of a delicious rabbit stew. Although that'll have to wait for tomorrow as tonight's menu will be fish and, er, more 'cold slop'. However, I shall reheat the cold slop so fish and warm slop. That makes it sound more appetising I trust?'

Standing to greet him, Liz laughed at his slightly hopeful face and took the rabbits from his hand, 'Cold, warm or tepid slop sounds great to me after living on stale cookies and the odd delight of tinned corn for the past however long'.

'Excellent. Well, I'm going to prepare the fish now and get these rabbits skinned and stewed with some carrots. I've managed to get a sort of fridge up and running. Well, I found a small cave and dug a hole in the ground in it. It's not great but once you cover things with enough leaves, meat seems to last for a couple of days okay'

'Very Bear Grylls'

'Very 'bear grills?', Red asked, a hugely puzzled look on his face.

Liz laughed and slapped him on the arm, 'Never mind, I'll tell you later. Now what can I do to help?'

'Nothing at all, my dear. Why don't you have that bath now? You can borrow some of my clean clothing afterwards and then we can head to the farmhouse tomorrow to see if there's anything there that would be a better fit for you'.

'Sounds good', Liz said as she went back into the shack to start some water boiling.

As Liz enjoyed quite possibly the longest soak of her entire life, Red skinned the rabbits and prepared enough stew for probably three days, once supplemented with fruit and more potatoes. He then set about gutting the fish he'd caught that morning and got it cooking over the fire with the remains of the mashed potatoes warming next to it.

Liz emerged from the next room, dressed in Red's spare clothing, and inhaled deeply, her mouth starting to water instantly.

'Oh my god, that smells insanely delicious'

Red turned to look at her and couldn't stifle a laugh. She was wearing one of his undershirts and a pair of jeans he'd found at the farm. They fitted him just fine but on her they looked like a tent. She had done the belt up to its tightest fitting but they still appeared on the verge of falling down at any moment.

'Why, thank you Lizzy. I'm afraid the fish is as plain as plain can be. No fancy sauces or marinades. Not even salt or pepper but…..'

'Red, why are you trying not to laugh?'

At this Red burst out into a wild cackle, 'I'm so sorry…. It's just you look a little clownish in that garb'

Looking down at herself, Liz realised just how enormous the pants really were on her. Not to mention the fact that Red's v-neck t-shirt was so large that it barely covered all of her cleavage.

'Ah, yes. I see what you mean. But you know what? Right now I could not care less. I can't remember the last time I didn't smell like a toxic waste dump'

Red smiled at her and beckoned that she come sit near to the fire, 'You should get your hair dry as quickly as possible, when night falls it can get quite chilly out here'.

They sat in silence whilst Red finished cooking the fish and the potatoes and then ate in near silence too. Both were just appreciating the simple things in life. Far more than they had when the simple things had been commonplace and everyday. Fresh food, warmth, clean clothing, shelter and, most importantly, companionship. For without the companionship the idea of survival had seemed almost pointless to either of them.

After dinner, they sat together on the bed, their backs against the wall. Red had found a jumper he'd purloined from the farm and wrapped Liz in it, insisting he wasn't cold himself. She snuggled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

'I'm so glad I found you'

'Oh, Elizabeth. You have no idea how glad I am too. I don't like to admit it but I was beginning to give up hope. I had no idea what to do if you didn't make your way here'.

'I was thinking about us whilst I was in the bath….'

At this Red raised a quizzical yet unseen eyebrow.

'…and I know we've had our ups and downs but honestly, there's nobody I'd rather be here with right now than you. That probably sounds silly but…..'

Red turned and lifted his hand to Liz's chin, turning her own face to his, 'No, it does not sound silly. And I can guarantee you I feel the same way'

There was an almost awkward moment as they gazed into each other's eyes and when Red noticed Liz looking down briefly at his lips he forced himself to carry on speaking.

'I even left Dembe to look after his family so that I could find you. My own brother….'

'Oh my god, I never asked! Is he okay? Where is he?'

'To be honest, I don't know. He wasn't going to stay where they were but he wasn't yet sure where they were going to go. However, he didn't feel that being out here in the boondocks was a great environment for his granddaughter. He may've changed his mind by now of course…. Either way, he knows where I am. So he can find us if necessary'.

'I'm so glad he's okay. I hope he can make it out here at some point, it'd be great to see him'.

Red hesitated before asking his next question. He was worried as Liz hadn't yet broached the topic herself that it must be bad news but he needed to ask her at some point.

'Do you know what happened to your team?'

Liz sighed and snuggled back in, closer to Red, 'I don't. We had no clue that the HQ would be attacked and would fall so quickly. We'd made no plans to rendezvous elsewhere. It was chaos. It happened so damn fast I didn't even have time to grab my radio. And of course with phones down I had no way of contacting anyone. Last I saw of any of them was Ressler fighting off some crazy guy with a stick. But I couldn't even help him. I was out of ammo and three guys were running at me. I had to escape. By the time I had gotten rid of them and doubled back he was nowhere to be seen. Or anyone else. I just hope they managed to get away'.

'What about the police? The army?'

'They were still struggling to maintain control. It didn't last long. And the last thing they were worried about was locating a few federal agents. It was clear that the city was descending into anarchy about our ears'.

'So you left?'

'After a few days living in the storeroom of a gym'

'A gym?'

'Yeah, I know…. But I figured anywhere that obviously had food or water would be dangerous. So I hid there and lived on energy drinks and granola bars. To be fair it could've been much worse', Liz chuckled as she considered just how lucky she had been.

'Then I thought about you. I needed to know you were okay. So I set out to your apartment. I don't know where else I would've tried to find you but thankfully I found your note and the rest is history'.

'I can't believe it took you so long to get here'

Liz slapped his arm and muttered something under her breath.

'What was that?'

'I could've gotten here quicker probably. But the roads were filled with broken down, burnt-out or just abandoned cars. Driving wasn't an option. You're lucky you left before I did. And an unarmed woman walking this far wasn't much fun, let me tell you. It's scary how quickly things got…..primitive'.

Red turned and looked down at her, his heart starting to beat ever more wildly in his chest.

'Lizzy…. Did anyone hurt you? Or try to?'

'If you mean what I think you mean then no. But only because I was really careful. As you can see I got into a few scrapes but nothing more serious than that. But it meant progress was really slow. I travelled only at night so I was invisible. Got lost a few times…'

Red slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close, sensing she was getting upset, 'I understand sweetheart. Well, you're here now. And you're safe. I have an entire trunk full of weapons and a few more scattered here around the cabin. There's a Glock in the drawer next to you, for your information. You're gonna be just fine now'. Red stopped talking as he could feel his throat tightening. The idea that his girl could've been hurt or worse made him feel helpless and angry and like shooting someone. But he needed to transmit safety and calm right now, Liz was exhausted and needed his reassurance.

'Red, this place only has one bed. Does that mean we're sharing?'

'Oh, don't worry. I can sleep on the floor. I'll find some…..'

'No, no. That's not happening. I was actually kinda hoping maybe we could…'

'Ah. Well, of course. I mean, the bed is big enough. And sharing body heat is a good idea'.

Liz smirked at him and could swear she saw him blush. But the fire was burning low now so she couldn't be sure.

'Okay, well I'd kinda like to go to bed now. That nap earlier didn't come close to being long enough'.

'Not a problem. I wouldn't mind an early night myself. We have much to talk about tomorrow. We need to think of some kind of plans for the short and the long term'.

'Yeah, you're right', Liz said as she manoeuvred herself horizontal and allowed Red space to lie down next to her.

Although he didn't hold her in his arms as he had that afternoon, she reached her hand out under the blankets and took a hold of his, squeezing it lightly. Red smiled and closed his eyes. Ah, yes, the simple things were something to be admired in this new world.


	4. Chapter 4

Red slept fitfully that night. He was not accustomed to having another person in his bed on a regular basis and certainly not in the last few months. Every time he woke up, he suddenly remembered that Liz was there with him and had to reach out gently to touch her, to check it wasn't a cruel dream instead. By the time the sun was rising, he gave up on trying to sleep any longer and carefully got out of bed, desperate not to wake his companion.

Ordinarily he would set out to try to catch some fish at this time but with the rabbit stew he'd made, they didn't need any more protein today. And he really didn't want to leave Liz alone for too long. Even though he'd not seen anyone near the shack in all the time he'd been there, while she was asleep she was vulnerable. He shouldn't have left her yesterday, he now considered, but he had wanted to surprise her with his hunting skills and had foolhardily gone off to empty his traps.

As he pulled his boots on, intending to have a walk around the perimeter of 'his' territory, he realised that all the caution and fear he'd once had in his life, that directly surrounding Liz's wellbeing, was back on his mind. Whilst out here alone, he hadn't felt fearful once. He had slept alone many times, aware that if someone attacked stealthily enough, he may not survive. But now his greater purpose in life had been returned to him he had to be more cautious. He was no longer expendable. And precautions had to be taken that he had not yet had cause to think about.

Strolling around the edge of the woods, looking out onto the open fields and rough terrain beyond, he found himself missing his morning coffee. The farm had been exceptionally well stocked with both tea and coffee and, used sparingly, he hadn't used it all up yet. In all truthfulness, it was probably the worst tasting coffee he'd ever had in his life, but to him it was just a tiny taste of what he considered 'normal life'. He checked a couple of the traps again as he walked around but nothing new had ventured into them. Deciding that Liz may well be awake by now, he turned and walked the hundred metres or so back to the cabin, determined to start a fire going and get some water boiling for her.

Walking into the shack, his heart nearly stopped when he saw the bed was empty. But thankfully within a second of his observation, he heard a noise from the bathroom.

'Good morning sleepyhead', he called out, eager to hear her voice.

'Er… Hi Red. What, er, what do you do with the bucket in here when you're done?'

Chuckling to himself, Red neared the bathroom door, 'Well, normally I'd take it and empty it in the woods. There's a lovely spot there for such things. Well, it used to be a lovely spot….. However, I imagine you may want to carry out that task yourself?'

'Yes, yes….. That would be best. Just point me in the right direction'.

'To be honest, I've grown used to only using the bucket if it's night time. During the day, I cut out the middle man and, well, you know….. Use the natural facilities all around us. Gotta watch out for the poison ivy though…..', he finished with a whisper.

'What was that last bit?'

'Oh, nothing dear. Just be aware of what's around you foliage wise when answering the call of nature. I've dug a hole and….. Oh, you know what, let's discuss this later. It's far too early for such things. I'm going to make some coffee. You want some? Or you prefer tea?'

'Oh my god! I'd kill for a coffee'

'Okay, I'll get on that and you can deal with the bucket'

Twenty minutes later and they were sitting out on the front 'porch' of the shack, both savouring every drop of their drinks. The weather was definitely starting to turn and Red knew that they should go today to the farm to find some new clothing for Liz. He could do with some warmer items too, truth be known.

'Do you think your leg is up for a trip to the farm today? If not, I can go alone?'

'Oh, it'll be fine. It really is much better. Just a little stiff. I think some light exercise is a good idea to be honest'.

'You're probably right. Just need to ensure not to overdo it. Okay, well I'm going to have an apple and a carrot for breakfast. Same?'

'Sounds delicious'

The farm was about two miles away as the crow flies and, even with Liz's limp, they made good time. Red had brought a rifle and handgun for himself and a further handgun for Liz. He had yet to see anyone at the farm or signs that anyone had been there since he had first found it but, as he had discovered that morning, he had become much more wary about the world that lay beyond his immediate horizon now.

They got to the edge of the field that was closest to the farmhouse and Red got out his binoculars, intent on watching the building for a short while before they got any closer. This was something he had done every day at first but had neglected to do for some time now. He found himself impatient however and after only a few minutes, declared that it seemed to be safe for them to continue.

Entering the farmhouse, Red did a quick check of all the ground floor rooms to see if anything had been disturbed. Satisfied that all appeared as he had last left it, they then headed up to the second floor to raid the wardrobes there. It turned out that the lady living there was about Liz's height but rather heavier. A lot of the clothes would be very baggy on her. However, the farmer himself had quite a few belts so they were able to find enough clothing that could be made to fit.

Back downstairs, Liz went to see what was left in the kitchen, 'Red, did you take all of the food from here or is there anything left?'

'I took quite a few items but they had a very well stocked pantry. There are mountains of canned goods and the likes of rice and pasta'.

'Maybe we should take them back to the shack now? Just in case anybody else comes along?'

Red turned to face her, noting the look of confusion on her face that he hadn't already taken more of what was left there, 'Yes, you're right. There are some sacks in one of the barns, let me fetch a few. It will probably take a few trips to bring it all back though. Oh, and we should take a few more plates and pots and pans and the like. To be honest, I would have started on the long life goods soon enough, I was just managing to cope well enough on the perishables in the fields and on what I caught. But with the weather turning soon we should be more cautious'.

Gathering up as much as they could, they hefted the sacks onto their shoulders, Red insisting he take the heavy ones whilst Liz just carried the clothing, and set off back to the shack.

Just as they reached the start of the wooded area at the edge of the farmland, Liz stopped dead and turned to stare at the trees away to their right.

'What is it?'

'I thought I saw movement'

Red turned and gazed in the direction she was looking, putting the sacks down and reaching carefully for his rifle, 'Could it just have been a bird or a rabbit?'

'No, it was much bigger. Near the red tree on the far end'.

'Probably a deer'

Red hadn't seen any deer nearby in all the time he'd been there but he was hoping now that's all it was. And he didn't want to spook Liz either way. He knew she was more than capable of looking after herself but nonetheless her journey from DC must have been terrifying and he wanted her to feel as relaxed as she possibly could here. However, if it had been something more worrying than a deer, he would need to be extra vigilant tonight. He mentally made a note to put a handgun under his pillow.

They stood there for a few minutes before deciding it probably had just been an animal. Lifting their sacks back up, they turned and set off back for the cabin. However, each of them looked over their shoulders much more often than they had on the outward journey.

Once there, they filled the small room next to the bathroom with their new food stash and clothes and settled down on the bed, each with a bowl of cereal. Milk, of course, was missing from this treat but Liz had insisted she just had to have some Cheerios, dry or not, and naturally Red had agreed.

'Well, that was pretty successful. I wish we could stay in the farmhouse though. It's really nice inside. And this shack is going to get far too cold once winter comes'

Red looked at Liz and nodded his assent. He didn't want to stay in the farmhouse though. It was just too obvious a target for raiders and looters.

'I agree, Lizzy. Partly. But it's just not safe enough. I think we either have to make this place cold resistant or we need to find somewhere else. Once your leg's better, maybe we can venture further afield and see if there's anywhere else nearby that might do'.

'Well, we have your car? We could get pretty far if we can find clear roads'

'It's not just that though. I only have half a tank of fuel. And whilst we can probably find cars etcetera when we're out and about to refuel from I don't like to have to rely on that. Plus the car's noise will be like a beacon for anyone close enough to hear. The world is so much quieter these days….. I was really only going to use it in emergencies. Or if I thought of somewhere far enough away to go that would require a vehicle. Which reminds me, I really should start her up, the battery is probably not very happy at the moment…..'

Liz realised that what Red said made sense. Although the idea of travelling on foot didn't much appeal to her after the hellish journey she'd had from DC.

'Okay…. Well, let's start out by seeing what else there is close by. This place will be okay for a month or two yet. I wish I could think of somewhere suitable for us to hole up for the winter but we just don't know where anywhere will be like until we get there'

'Indeed. All the obvious places will already have been looted. We need somewhere like the farmhouse but in a more secluded area. Although it has been very quiet around here, you can see the farmhouse from quite a way away on the surrounding hills. We need somewhere much less noticeable'.

Liz sighed and stretched her legs out on the bed, 'Okay, well let's start tomorrow. Just have a look around'.

'What about your leg?'

'We don't have to go too far. Just somewhere you've not explored yet. Checking out if there is anyone else living nearby probably isn't a bad plan anyway. Whether they're good or bad people, it'd be better if we know they're there'.

'You're bored already, aren't you?'

Liz laughed and looked at Red, raising an eyebrow, 'No, I am not. But I'd like to know what's around here. However, saying that, what on earth have you been doing to entertain yourself while you were here alone?'

'Er…. Well, the simple business of surviving was pretty time consuming. Fishing, setting the traps, preparing the food I caught, fetching water and other things from the farm….. Sitting out on that damn rock for 6 hours a day…'

Liz shuffled closer and took a hold of his hand, resting her head on his shoulder.

'Thank you for not giving up on me finding this place'

'Oh, sweetheart, giving up on that would have been giving up entirely'

She squeezed his hand tightly and forced herself not to shed any tears, although she could feel her throat constricting.

'Well, I'm here now. Thanks to you. And we're gonna be okay. We make a great team, you know?'

Red turned his head and kissed her lightly on her temple, 'That was never in any doubt, sweetheart'.


	5. Chapter 5

Liz awoke unable to breathe. Briefly she panicked but then she ascertained that Red had his hand clamped over her mouth. Intuitively she knew not to struggle or try to make a noise. Within seconds he had realised she was conscious and he whispered in her ear, 'Be quiet Lizzy. There's someone outside'.

And with that, he stood up from their bed, his pistol already in his hand. Moving away from the bed, she lost sight of him in the shadows before picking up his position again when he got to the edge of the window. She saw him peering out and could even make out the worried expression on his face. Slowly and quietly, she swung her legs off the edge of the bed and started to slip her shoes on. Once she had achieved that, she fetched the handgun Red had told her was in the drawer beside the bed and, crouching, made her way to behind where Red was standing.

'What can you see?', she whispered in his ear as she took her place directly behind him.

'Nothing. But I heard voices. It's definitely people out there. I have no idea how many'.

'What should we do?'

'I think we need to leave. We don't know how many of them there are or if they're armed. We could be surrounded. It's pitch black out there, we'll make a run for the trees and hide. Once there we can get to the car. Thank god I started it earlier….'

Liz shut her eyes for a moment, all the terror and indecision of her time out there before she found Red returning to her. But she was determined not to panic. She and Red had been in worse situations than this. And whoever these people were, they wouldn't be half as dangerous or highly trained as their usual enemies.

'I've got the gun'

'Good. Grab your jacket and mine if you would. We can't take much with us but those may be essential'.

Liz did as she was told and within seconds they were standing in front of the only door the shack had, ready to go.

'Red, maybe we should go out the window in the bathroom? If they're watching anything, they're watching the door'

'Yes…. You could be right. Okay, let's go'.

They crouched and shuffled their way through the shack, so as not to be seen through the windows. Neither of them had heard any voices since Liz had woken up. But in many ways that was more worrying. They had no real indication of how close the threat was.

'Okay, Lizzy, I'll go out first', Red said as he opened the bathroom window as silently as he could.

Once out, he raised his gun, ready to fire at any moment. Liz soon joined him and they hunkered down, waiting to see if they'd been heard. After thirty seconds, Red leant into Liz and whispered, 'Make for the tree with the white bark. We get behind that and then wait again'.

They moved forward, as carefully as possible, each paranoid that one twig snapping would give away their position. But they managed it without incident and were soon hidden from the shack behind the white tree, deep in the shadows of the woods.

'Red, maybe now we're out here we should stand and defend ourselves?'

'No, Lizzy. For now, we retreat. Too many unknowns. Follow me to the car'.

And with that, he stood and started to creep through the woods, eyes and ears almost pained with the effort of trying to make out anything that may make itself known to them.

Eventually, they reached the car. Red turned to whisper in Liz's ear, 'Okay, I already turned off the interior light so we're safe to get in. However, I think we should only risk opening one door. I'll open the driver's door, you get in and squeeze over to the other side and I'll get in. Got it?'

Liz tightened her grip on his arm in response and Red eased the driver's door open slowly. Liz then got in and moved out the way. In the meantime, Red grabbed a few of the branches that were on the windshield and the front half of the roof and put them down next to the car. The rest would blow off harmlessly once they were moving. He got in and closed the door so it was half-latched but not fully, so as not to make any needless noise. Once they were cocooned within the car Red turned and nodded at Liz, looking into her eyes as much as he could in the darkness.

'I'm gonna turn on the engine and then just drive like a bat out of hell. That good with you?'

Liz laughed, despite herself, 'Yeah, sounds good'.

'Don't try to shoot back if we're shot at. They have a target, we don't. I'm going to need to turn the lights on or we'll hit a damn tree. Just stay down'.

Liz nodded, aware Red could see her just enough to know she had agreed to his plan.

'Okay, and…..'

Red turned the key and the engine roared into life instantly. Without overthinking it, he floored the accelerator and they careened out of the trees and headed towards the cabin, the narrow track taking them back that way before it turned and headed down towards the nearest proper road.

The second they could see the cabin, the faces of three men were illuminated in the trees about fifteen metres beyond. Although they all seemed too startled to do anything about the car that, at that point, was heading straight towards them, Red clocked that at least two of them were carrying what looked like hunters' rifles. He angled the wheel and accelerated even more, eager to be out of sight before the men came to their senses.

Within no more than five seconds, they had re-entered the trees on the other side of the cabin. There was a loud bang as one of their would-be assailants let off a shot but they didn't hear it hit the car. Red drove as fast as he dared, wanting to get the car out of sight beyond the next bend.

Once they'd achieved that, he let out a breath and blinked for the first time in nearly a minute. He chanced a quick glance at Liz but she was staring intently in the side mirror, her hair hiding her expression.

'Lizzy, I think we're okay'

'Mmmm….'

'You okay?'

'Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just drive'.

Red could hear the tension in her voice and decided just to let her be for the moment. He drove the car fast but not without care and took the direction away from the farm. If these men had found their cabin they had no doubt found the farm. Plus it was almost certainly one of them Liz had spotted earlier in the trees on their way back from their supplies run. He was now heading back towards the local town, although he had no intention of making it that far. Having said that, he had no clue where he was going to take them…

'Lizzy?'

'Yeah….'

'Any suggestions as to where we should go?'

'Not really'

'I only ask as you've been out here much more recently than I have. I'm not going to go into the town but otherwise I just don't know'

'Let's just find somewhere quiet we can park up for the night. We don't need a house or anything. Just somewhere off the beaten track we can hide the car'

'Okay… Roger that'

And so Red continued to drive along the main road, keeping his eyes peeled for any promising looking tracks off either side. He didn't want a paved road, something less likely to have attracted others would be his preference. After maybe five miles of driving he saw just what he was looking for and turned onto a dirt trail with a sign for a natural beauty spot placed at the entrance. Just the kind of place that shouldn't have caught the eye of anyone looking for shelter or food.

The car bumped its way along for about half a mile and then Red saw an offshoot to the trail going to the left. He took that and they found themselves in what was probably the overflow car park for whatever the natural beauty spot was that was advertised. Pulling up in the darkest corner of the rough patch of ground, he killed the engine and just sat back, huffing out a slow release of breath.

He turned to Liz and she was sitting there, stock still. Reaching out, he took a hold of her hand and squeezed it, 'Hey there, you sure you're all right?'

'Yeah…..'

Red was far from convinced. He knew Liz was pretty much the strongest person he had met but whatever she'd gone through in the last few months had obviously taken its toll on her. As if on cue, she started shaking.

'Hey there, Lizzy. We're okay, we're safe'

'I know…. I just…..', but she couldn't continue as she started crying and just hung her head down and let it out.

'Oh, Elizabeth…'

'I'm sorry…. I just thought we were safe. I just thought I could be somewhere for a few days and be safe, goddamnit'

Red sighed and sat back. He didn't really know what to say to that so he just let her cry it out, holding her hand reassuringly the whole time. After a few minutes, she stopped and he heard her breathing return to normal.

'We are safe, Lizzy. We're safe tonight. For now. Tomorrow will be a new challenge, that's all'

'Yeah…. A new challenge. Great. Do we even have any food?'

'Actually, seeing as you ask, we do. The first time I brought any non-perishable items back from the farm I stowed them in the back seat. Along with most of the weapons and all the essentials. Just in case I had to do what we did tonight. We've probably got enough for a month back there'.

Liz looked at Red briefly, her wet eyes glimmering in the low moonlight. Then she turned and looked back. He saw her smiling with relief. And then something else. Her smile widened and turned into a grin. She looked back at him.

'Red, is that your fedora back there?'

'Yes, Lizzy, it is. I did say 'all the essentials', didn't I?'


	6. Chapter 6

Red let Liz sleep, curled up in the backseat under the only blanket they had. He sat watch, unwilling to let his guard down again that night. He didn't think for a second the men could have followed them there but he was too wired with adrenalin even to consider dozing off.

As the new day arrived and the sun rose over the nearby mountains, he heaved a sigh of relief. Being able to see the surrounding area helped ease his nerves considerably and he looked back at Liz to see if she was stirring yet. However, the night's exertions had taken it out of her and she slumbered on, soft snoring noises coming from beneath the blanket.

As it was now light, Red decided he could safely answer the call of nature without leaving Liz alone and too vulnerable. He slipped out of the car and pushed the door until it was nearly shut but without slamming it. Watching her for a further few seconds, he saw he hadn't disturbed her and darted off into the nearby trees, intending to be as quick as he could. He didn't want her to wake alone after last night's drama. Truth was he was very worried about her. Something had happened on her journey from DC that she hadn't told him, he was sure of it. After everything she had been through the last few years and come through so impressively unscathed, the extent to which she had been affected by recent events was just too out of character for him not to have noticed.

As he came back into the car park, he noticed that not only was Liz awake but that she was standing outside the car, peering into the trees on the opposite side from where he was approaching.

'Lizzy, good morning'

She spun around instantly, her gun raised and he put his hands up in mock surrender, 'Please don't shoot, I'm unarmed. And I'm willing to trade you breakfast for my life'. Red didn't feel as jovial as he was attempting to sound but he needed to try to bring Liz down off the panicky ledge she had found herself on.

'Red…..'

'I'm sorry. I had to visit the little boys' room. I tried not to wake you'.

'It's okay, it's my fault, I just…..'

By now he had reached her side and he took her into his arms and held her for a moment, giving her the chance to calm a little and feel safe again.

'It's not your fault. But, Elizabeth, we need to talk some more about your 'adventures' on your way to meet me. I don't think you've told me everything I need to know'

Liz started to reply but Red placed a finger over her mouth and stared at her, 'Not now. There will be time. Now it's time for breakfast and the plotting of what on earth we do next'.

Liz smiled ruefully at him and nodded her agreement. She should've known she would have to tell Red the whole truth at some point. Trying to keep a secret from this man was damn near impossible.

He ducked back into the car and appeared with a can of spaghetti in tomato sauce, 'Mmm, delicious. A breakfast fit for a king. Or queen. Care to share?'

Liz nodded and sat down in the passenger seat. Red popped the top of the can and reappeared in the driver's seat with two spoons, 'I do apologise for this being somewhat short of silver service but I'm sure you won't object to the lack of plates?'

'It's fine'

Red handed her a spoon and allowed her the first plunge into the can. He eyed her warily as she ate. Her mood was increasingly worrying him. Ordinarily his poor attempts at humour would have at least elicited an eye roll, if not a pained 'laugh'. Maybe he needed to try a different approach. Although he had no idea what that might be. Putting those thoughts to the side for the moment, he decided to engage her brain instead. Hopefully that would bring her out of her shell.

'So, you got any idea what we should do now?'

'Not really….'

'I definitely think we should avoid anywhere like a town. We need to find somewhere secluded. Much as we were hoping to do anyway. Except now, admittedly, with a little more urgency. We have enough supplies to last a while but we need more security than just a car'

'Yeah….'

'I'm afraid we need to abandon the shack completely. There's no point going back. All that's there is more clothing and food. Things we can find elsewhere. We have a regiment's worth of weapons and ammo so we're good on that front and…

'I recognised one of those men'

Red stopped talking abruptly and turned to look at her. She was sitting with her hair having fallen over her face, unwilling to meet his eyes. Reaching out gently, he lifted her hair out of the way and tucked it behind her ear.

'At the shack?'

'Yeah'

'From where, sweetheart'

'From the last town I was in'

'Where you fought in a store room over some chips?'

'Mmm-hmm'

'Was he the one who gave you your bruises?'

Red's voice was deceptively calm. A lifetime of hiding his emotions was coming to bear in this exact moment. Inside, he could feel his blood boiling and it took all he had not to throw Liz out of the car and head back to the shack, guns blazing.

'Yeah…..'

'Is that all?'

'No'

'Lizzy, please. Tell me. I can help, you know'

At last she looked up at him, tears pouring down her face, 'He tried to… He, he tried….'

But it was no good, she couldn't say any more. Red put down the can he was holding and leant over to wrap his arms around her, letting her cry it out on his shoulder. He was crying himself now, furious with himself for not realising sooner. Furious with the world as it now was. But mostly furious, lethally furious, with the man who was now probably sleeping in their bed back at the shack.

After a couple of minutes, Liz lifted her head from his shoulder and sat back up straight. She hesitantly looked up at Red and he smiled his gentlest smile back at her, squeezing her hand at the same time.

'It's all right now, sweetheart. He won't find you again. We're gonna set off in a few minutes and we're gonna drive until the wheels fall off the car. Before you know it, we'll be in Arizona'.

Liz laughed despite herself, 'Arizona? On half a tank of fuel?'

'I'm hoping it'll be downhill the whole way'

Liz reached out and slapped Red's arm, smiling broadly, 'Okay, that sounds like another Reddington master plan. Sign me up'.

He beamed at her, pleased at her attempt to be more herself, and offered her the can of spaghetti, 'We go nowhere until you finish your half. I seem to have had mine…. Not quite sure how I managed that in two mouthfuls'.

Liz laughed at the 'puzzled' expression he was pulling and took the can from him. Scooping the rest of her share into her mouth in record time, she quickly swallowed and then turned the can so he could see the inside.

'All done'

'Excellent work. You'd get a lollipop. If I had one…'

'So, where we gonna drive to now?'

Starting the engine, Red pulled on his shades and moved the car back towards the entrance to the overflow car park, 'Well, first we're gonna see if there are any cars in the main car park we can get some fuel from. And then we're gonna drive west I think. At least for a little way'.

Liz nodded and looked out the window, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face as it got higher in the sky. Telling Red had been the right thing to do she knew, she had just found it incredibly difficult to do so. But now she felt better. Having him on her side and at her side meant she would be safe, she understood that. She just needed to allow herself to believe it fully.

They pulled into the main car park to the site and found that there was just one vehicle there, a pick up truck that seemed to have been used for maintenance in its previous life. Red sprung out of the car and went to check it. Heading back, he had a smile on his face.

'Good news, it's the right fuel. Now, to see if it actually has any!'

Within minutes, Red had pulled their car alongside the truck, fetched a hose from the trunk and started to syphon off the gas. He filled their tank and there was even enough left to fill the spare gas can he also had.

'Okay, we're all set'

Liz smiled at Red and squeezed his arm, 'Okay, Mr Reddington, let's go on an adventure'

'Oh my…. Right now I'd be happy with a fillet steak and a warm bed. But the lady asks for an adventure…'

This earned him a poke in the ribs and he squirmed away from her, giggling.

'Are you ticklish?'

'Absolutely not. You just took me by surprise. Now stop distracting the driver'.

'Yes, sir'

Liz sat up straight, eyes fixed forward, hands folded in her lap. Red eyed her sideways and nodded, 'That's better'

Pulling out of the main entrance back onto the road, Red turned the wheel and pointed them west. He was hoping to keep to smaller roads as much as he could but he had no idea what kind of things they may face from now on. Every corner they went around could hide any number or variety of hidden dangers. He had his pistol in its holster and another handgun in the door. His shotgun was within reach in the rear footwell. He just had to hope and pray that should they come across further difficulties, he would have the time and the capability to make use of his weapon stash.

Stealing a glance at Liz, he saw she was sitting back in her seat, just enjoying soaking up the sun's rays. He was glad she had finally told him some of what had happened to her before their reunion but he knew there would be a lot more of that particular story to tell. Whether or not she wanted to tell him, he hoped that she knew that she could. They were all they each had in the world now and their strength would come from their trust in each other. Fixing his eyes back on the road, he saw a movement in the trees. A baby deer was there, staring at the car as it sped past. He wondered briefly if this was the first car and they the first humans the deer had seen in its young life. However, if that were the case, it hadn't seem scared at all of the alien noise the car must have made passing it. He took that as a good omen and reached out to turn on the music system.

'Now, Elizabeth. What are your thoughts on jazz?'


	7. Chapter 7

By noon, they were both ready for a break. They'd been driving for over three hours and not stopped once, eager to put distance between themselves and the men at the shack. Red had managed to avoid going anywhere near towns or anything even remotely resembling a built up area and, as such, they had seen no people at all so far. There had been countess numbers of abandoned cars, some of which had taken some off-road driving to navigate past, but their previous owners were nowhere to be seen.

Spying a small track, Red pulled the car off the road and travelled for a further fifty metres or so, until they were past the first bend. He then stopped the car and got out immediately to stretch his legs. Joining him outside the car, Liz bent over to touch her toes and then sighed,

'That feels so much better. I've not sat in a car that long for months'.

'Me neither. Although I have to say it was nice to drive with no other idiots on the road'.

Liz smiled at him as she turned to survey the scenery where they were, 'Do you want me to drive after we've had a rest?'

'If you'd like? I don't mind though'.

'Well, you didn't get much sleep last night, you can doze whilst I take us a bit further'.

'I could certainly try. Although if I recall your driving is a little….jerky?'

This earned him a slap on the arm and a glower from Liz and he laughed at her expression before raising his hands in the semblance of an apology, 'I take it back. No more violence necessary'.

'Hmm…. Hey, I wonder what that sign over there says'

Liz walked off up the road a little before bending over to read a wooden sign that had collapsed onto a fence, 'It says 'Farm Store ¼ mile'.

'Farm Store? Oh, well that is definitely worth investigating'

'I thought you might say that'

'What, you're not interested in finding something tastier than canned spaghetti?'

'Okay, I concede. Who knows what might be there. Shall we carry on now?'

'May as well. I'll drive, you take shotgun for now. And I do actually mean 'take shotgun'.

Liz nodded and they both got back into the car. Red started the engine and they slowly made their way up the track, eyes peeled for any movement. In no time they came within sight of their destination and saw that the farm store was a fairly large single storey building, with no actual farm in sight. There were no cars outside but neither were any of the windows and doors broken or knocked off.

'We could be in luck. I certainly saw no signs for this place from the road so maybe no one thought to look here'

'Seems that way', Liz agreed. Although her nerves were jangling at the prospect of coming across any other survivors. She tightened her grip on the shotgun and waited for Red to pull up outside.

They both got out of the car and stood together in front of it, guns raised, 'Ordinarily I'd suggest we split up and enter through different doors but actually we're gonna stick together, okay Lizzy?'

Liz looked at Red and smiled, happy that he wasn't going to leave her side. She hadn't wanted to suggest to him that they didn't separate so she was hugely relieved he'd said it first. Red pulled out a flashlight and, having given Liz a look, they entered as one, guns covering the room in seconds. There was no one inside. The store itself was set out very basically with two short aisles and shelves and fridges around the walls. The smell was horrific, whatever food had been in the fridges long having had expired and rotted away. They both grimaced and started to move to the back of the store. Once they had checked there really was nobody here they could start looking for any salvageable food or drink that was left.

It didn't take long for them to ascertain that they were on their own there; there was no sign at all that the place had been entered since the early days of the pandemic. However, sadly the vast majority of the goods had been perishable and was useless. Liz found some jerky and chips and Red managed to locate some dried fruits that looked edible but otherwise there was nothing.

'Damn, I was hoping for some water. That's something we are pretty low on'.

'I'll check the boxes in the back'

'Okay, Lizzy. I'm just going to have a quick look out front and make sure no one's coming. You never know who may have heard our car engine'.

As Red went out the front of the store, Liz turned back towards the storerooms. All of a sudden, she realised just how dark it was there without Red's flashlight. And how quiet it seemed in here. Turning briefly to see if Red was coming back in yet, she realised that her hesitation wasn't based on the murkiness or on the comparative silence. It was a storeroom not dissimilar to this one where the man at the shack had tried to assault her. She took a deep breath, raised her weapon again, despite knowing they'd already cleared the rooms, and walked slowly towards the two doors in front of her.

Red fetched his binoculars from the car and had a good look around at the scenery. There was absolutely nothing to be seen. Most of the land was flat with few trees so hiding spots were at a premium. Just as he was about to pull the binoculars away from his eyes, he caught sight of something. Screwing up his eyes to focus better, he realised he could see a chimney-top peeking out over the top of a large pile of earth. Reasoning to himself that that could be the farmhouse that the owners of this store had lived in, he turned back to go in and tell Liz the news.

'Hey Lizzy, I may've found us somewhere we can stay tonight'

There was no reply and Red frowned, pulling his gun back out from his holster and turning his flashlight back on, 'Elizabeth?'

Still nothing. Red hurried down the aisle nearest to him and got to the back of the store in seconds. One of the doors there was wide open and he rushed in, ready to fire. But what he saw made him lower his weapon instantly. Liz was sitting, crouched in the corner of the room, her head between her knees. He could hear she was either hyperventilating or crying and he hurried to her side, sliding down next to her.

'Hey, hey….. Lizzy, I'm here. Are you all right?'

Liz reached a hand blindly out, not lifting her head up at all. She took a hold of Red's arm and he shuffled closer, moving his other arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him.

'I'm here. You're safe. There's no one else here. Shhhhh….'

He tucked her head under his chin and just held her tight, letting her slowly calm down and stop crying. He was rocking them a little, and rubbing his hand up and down her arm, soothing her gently. At last, Liz looked up at him and his heart broke at the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and reddened her eyes.

'Oh, Lizzy…..'

'I'm okay now, Red. I'm sorry'.

'Don't be silly. There's nothing to be sorry about'.

She sniffed and nodded, although he could tell she didn't entirely believe it. Standing up, he kept a hold of her arms and pulled her to her feet too. As soon as she was vertical, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for a few more moments.

'Did you have a flashback?'

'Yeah… Something like that. I'm okay now'.

She pulled back from him and wiped her face on her sleeve, 'I haven't checked the boxes yet'.

Red looked at her carefully for another few seconds then nodded, allowing her to change the topic for now. He wanted them to be away from this place as soon as possible so he would let her cope however she needed to. But he was determined to get her to speak more candidly about her experiences to him before too long. Whatever it was she was bottling up was not healthy.

'Not a problem. Allow me…'

Red faced the first of the pile of boxes and pulled a knife out. Within a couple of minutes, he had revealed the contents of all twelve of them.

'Well, we have water, hallelujah'

'That's great'

'Yes, even if the store itself was nearly a complete bust, this water is far more important'.

He looked at her and she smiled at him, starting to look more like her usual self.

'And I trust you noticed the contents of the last box?'

Liz frowned and took Red's flashlight from his hand, shining it down at the box nearest his feet. She then burst out laughing.

'Wine? Oh, right. Now I know why you look so happy!'

'Well, Elizabeth, it has been an unconscionable amount of time since I had a drink. And you too, I'll warrant?'

'Yes, it has…. But I swear you're happier about the wine than the water'.

'I can neither confirm nor deny that allegation', he said with a wink. 'Either way, we have both so we don't need to worry about such things'.

'Of course it's homemade wine. It's probably terrible'.

'Oh, my dear, it will taste like the sweetest nectar from heaven after nearly six months abstinence. Beggars can't be choosers, no?'

Liz rolled her eyes at him and he grinned back at her, pleased to see she had recovered sufficiently to mock him again.

'Okay, let's get as much of this as we can into the car. I spotted a building nearby so was thinking we could go and check it out?'

'Yeah, sounds good'.

They took a few minutes to move all the boxes they could into the car. The trunk was now packed full of food, liquids, a gas can and innumerable weapons.

'This car is too small. We're gonna need to find ourselves a pick-up truck as soon as we can. Plus we really need something with four wheel drive. We may need to go off road even more from now on if the situation calls for it'.

'Mm-hmm, we'll find something bigger. Maybe we'll come across a car showroom or something?'

'Could do, yes. Although I'm not going to go into any towns in order to look for one. It's not worth the risk. Anyway, this'll do for a little longer. Let's go and check out that building, eh?'

Liz nodded her assent and they both got back into the car. Red started the engine and they moved off, 'Oh, my, it feels like I'm towing a trailer the car's so loaded. We're not going to be able to produce much speed if we need to'.

'Well, there is one way of dealing with that before we find another vehicle'

'What's that?'

'We could get started emptying those wine bottles…..'


	8. Chapter 8

They pulled up next to a barn about a hundred metres from the main house, which was a large two storey building, surrounded by flowers now run wild. Red knew that if anyone was inside they undoubtedly would have heard the car but he still didn't want to park too near to it, just out of force of habit. He looked over at Liz. She was staring out at the house and running her fingers over her scar, a classic sign that she was worried.

'Lizzy, do you wanna stay here in the car whilst I check out the house?'

She looked over at Red, briefly seemingly uncomprehending of his words before realising what he meant, 'No, no…. I'd rather come with you'

'Okay. Well, once again let's stick together. Safety in numbers. This isn't a police arrest, we just need to have each other's backs'.

Red got out of the car, having taken the shotgun off Liz. She had her handgun out and came around the front of the car so that they could approach the dwelling together. They decided to enter from the rear just so that they might have an element of surprise, if one were to be needed. Nearing the back door, they had had a chance to peer in through a couple of windows and, from the outside anyway, the place looked as though no one had been there in some time. One could almost sense the neglect and mustiness.

Red tested the handle of the back door and it swung open easily. Tentatively taking a few steps inside, he pointed his gun around the room and moved further in, allowing Liz to follow him. Seeing nothing to worry him there he continued through what appeared to be the kitchen and passed through into a sitting area. The feeling of absence of life was tangible.

Within about five minutes they had cleared the entire building, even checking the attic and the cellar. There was nobody here. The stink of decaying food was again almost overwhelming, the fridge and freezer smelling like rotting meat and worse. Red decided it was safe to leave Liz here for a while whilst he went to check out the few outbuildings that were there. It was clear nobody had been here in some time and if people were still living amongst the various structures here, he could see no obvious reason why they wouldn't have been in this house during that time. He was confident the whole area was abandoned.

'Liz, why don't you start looking to see if there's any salvageable food or drink here, I just wanna go look at the various barns and sheds around the place?'

'Shouldn't I come with you?'

'Honestly, I think we're alone. There's nothing to indicate people have been here in months. For one thing, if they had, they would have emptied the farm store by now'.

Liz looked out the window briefly and then back at Red, 'Yeah, you're right. But don't be too long'.

'You won't even know I'm gone'

Red went back out the door and started off towards the nearest of the outbuildings. He wasn't overly happy about leaving Liz but he thought it might be good for her confidence for her to see that he was willing to leave her for a few minutes. Still, he resolved to himself, he'd make this quick.

Liz searched around the kitchen and found a few long-life items they would be able to utilise. She didn't open the fridge or freezer. If they were going to stay here for any amount of time, they would have to be taken outside as the smell was unbearable. Popping open a tin of corned beef, she found a spoon that seemed relatively clean and sat to eat. She hadn't realised she was even hungry until she had seen the food.

Looking around the room, she felt a deep sadness come over her. This had been a room that a family had lived their lives in, laughing and cooking and just leading a normal existence. The sense of loss was more palpable here than at the shack. She supposed that was because although there was a bed there, it hadn't really looked like somewhere anyone had lived lately. Here there were photos on the wall, a couple in their forties and two boys aged in their early teens. She wondered if they had left or died. The chances of them being immune and still alive somewhere were near negligible. And if they were, surely they wouldn't have left this apparently safe haven. Spooning the last of her can into her mouth, she looked out the window to see if Red was on his way back yet.

Red walked slowly back to Liz. What he'd seen in the barn had shocked him. Even with all the horrible and terrifying things he had witnessed over the years, this one had really helped to bring home just what kind of world they now lived in. And what had been lost.

Opening the door, he came in and smiled at Liz, glad to see that she had an appetite and had had some food in his absence. However, his smile didn't fool her for a second.

'What's wrong?'

He came and sat down next to her and looked over her shoulder at the various family photos on the wall, wincing as he compared what he'd just seen to what he saw here had been a happy, average family.

'Red, talk to me…'

'I'm sorry…. Well, there's nobody else here. It really does look as though no one has been here for some time, I think we will be safe to stay for at least a little while'

'But?'

'In the barn I found the family you see in those pictures. I can only imagine it was them….. They must have been infected, had given up hope as it was clear the vaccine would never reach them as the world turned to chaos…..'

Liz reached her hand out across the kitchen table and placed it over Red's, sensing just how upset he was at what he had seen.

'One of the parents must have made the decision to end their suffering before it got too painful, whilst they were still able to do so'

Liz looked down, unsure if she wanted to know anymore. But she would let Red finish if he needed to.

'There are four bodies in the largest barn. Two adults, two kids. And a shotgun lying next to the father'

Liz took a breath and closed her eyes. Even though she hadn't thought the people who had once lived here could possibly still be alive, the idea that a parent had had to shoot their own children and then their wife before turning a gun on themselves… She had hoped something even a little more humane had happened to these people.

Red took a short pause and then looked up at Liz, 'Okay…. Well, do you still want to stay here? We could probably find somewhere else before nightfall if we set out soon?'

'No… Here's fine. I doubt we'll find any fairy tale homes we can stay in anyway. Ones with kids running free and safe'

'No, indeed. Right, I'm going to park the car inside one of the outbuildings so no one can see it. That gives us an escape route should we need it. Do you want to come and help me bring in some food and weapons?'

'Sure', Liz said, standing up from the table and following Red out of the door. They walked past the big barn on the way to the car and Liz stared at it the whole time. Had the kids known what was going to happen to them? Had they begged their parents for their lives? Or had they been too sick by that time to know or care what was going on? She hoped it had been the latter. Somehow the terrible suffering from the deadly illness was more palatable than the idea these children had died knowing it was their own father who had killed them.

As they got to the car, she attempted to stop thinking about it. It was done now and it was tragic but nothing good could come from dwelling on it. She and Red had to think of themselves. They needed to secure the house as best they could and get ready for nighttime. For whilst she thought this place seemed safe enough, at least for a while, last night had proven that you really did never know just who might appear and when.

They both got into the front seats and Red drove up to the back door of the house. Getting out, they went back to the trunk and Red filled a box with water, wine and food whilst Liz took as many weapons and as much ammo as she could carry. It was prudent, as they had so recently found out, to leave some here in the car too. After they had carried the supplies in, Red jumped back into the driver's seat and drove over to a barn on the other side of the house. He'd already left the doors open so he turned the car around and reversed in

As soon as he was back at the house, they got to work ensuring it was as invader proof as it could be. Doors were locked and furniture moved. Windows locked too. They thought about boarding up the windows with anything they could find to do so but realised that a house this big, if somebody really did want to get in, they would. They could slow them down but it seemed too gloomy to close themselves off in here. There was a small room off the kitchen that seemed to have been a family room with two couches they could sleep on and only one window, albeit a large one. From here they could easily exit out the front or the back of the house via the kitchen and so they figured this was the best place to make into a bedroom. Being upstairs may result in being trapped, it was better to be on the ground floor so all windows and doors were exit points.

Two hours later, they sat on one of the couches, utterly exhausted. Red asked Liz if she would like a fire lit in the hearth but they decided not to risk their smoke being seen. Besides, it wasn't really that cold, the house having thick walls and lots of soft furnishings to keep them warm. Liz would have loved a hot meal right now but they could cook some food tomorrow maybe when they had scouted around the nearby area, checking that there were no other pockets of survivors nearby who might wish them harm.

'Liz, would you like me to stay awake while you sleep for a few hours? Then we can swap?'

'I wouldn't mind…. Just until it feels safer here anyway. In a few days, I'm sure we can afford not to stand guard all night. But right now, I just feel a little….vulnerable'.

'Not a problem'

Red ushered Liz off the couch, earning himself a puzzled look from her. He then removed the cushions and within seconds the couch had become a bed.

'Voila! It's a pull-out'.

Liz laughed at him, his joy at giving her a real bed to sleep in causing him to beam with pride.

'Fantastic. Well spotted, Red'.

He placed a handgun either side of them and a couple of rifles in the corner farthest from the door. The shotgun he let lean against the side of the bed he now sat on. It was starting to get dark and with no light other than their flashlights, there was no hope of reading. Maybe he could find a good old oil lamp somewhere about the place tomorrow, he wondered to himself.

As he was making himself comfortable under the blankets they had found and arranged on the bed, he was surprised to find Liz curling up at his side. She placed a pillow on his lap and then laid her head on it, her position meaning that he basically had no choice but to lay his arm around her shoulders. He smiled down at her even though she couldn't see him. Her trust in him made his heart both break and soar at the same time.

'Goodnight, Red'

'Goodnight, sweetheart'


	9. Chapter 9

Over the next few days, Liz and Red settled into their new abode. They moved the fridge and freezer outside far away from the house, although the smell was still lingering about the place with unwelcome determination. The food and drink they had would be enough for a while but water was something of which they didn't have much. This farm had no well so they would have to see if there was a stream or something nearby that they could utilise, boiling the water just to be safe.

Although they each had significant misgivings when it came to taking the clothing of the couple who had lived there, they knew they had to get over their discomfort. Neither the man nor the woman were the right size exactly but it was close enough to work. And Liz found she rather liked Red in a variety of plaid shirts and jeans. It was so different to how he normally dressed but he looked great. Not to mention the fact that he had shed a little weight in the past few months and built up quite a bit of muscle. She found herself admiring his body on more than one occasion when he was chopping wood for the fire or carrying things around the place.

They had scouted the surrounding area thoroughly. As far as they could tell there was nothing nearby at all. The farm itself was huge, probably a thousand acres. There was a grain silo way out to the east but other than that, no other buildings were present on the site other than the ones next to the main house. This gave them the encouragement they needed to start to light fires every night, both for warmth and to be able to eat hot food.

Come the evening of the third day they'd been there, they were sitting by the fire, impatiently waiting their dinner of freshly caught rabbit to finish cooking. Rabbits had, it would appear, been breeding as they were wont to do since the plague had struck most of humanity down. And with no one around to shoot them, they were a very reliable food source. Luckily, Red was an innovative chef and had so far found at least ten different ways to cook and serve the meat so they weren't growing tired of it yet. He was very grateful to the former occupants of the house for the vast selection of herbs and spices they had collected.

Liz was sitting and looking through a box of papers, magazines and other random paraphernalia by the light of the oil lamp Red had found. He had actually located eight of the things in one of the outbuildings, along with enough fuel to last them quite a while but they only burnt one at once so as not to waste their resources. Along with the light from the fire, it was sufficient.

'Hey, Red, look….'

'Hmm?'

'This is a map of the local area. A really detailed one'.

Liz spread out her find in front of them in order that they could both pore over it. The farm itself and its boundaries were obvious and it showed that the nearest town, more a village, was about twelve miles away. No other farms were obvious but there were a few houses scattered just beyond the edge of the farmland.

'Look! There's a lake or something in that copse of trees there. I can't believe we didn't see it when we were exploring'.

'Well, it's not that large, Lizzy. However, it looks like it's fed by that stream there. And then the water goes underground. We may have found ourselves a water supply after all'

'We?'

Red grinned at her as she looked up at him cheekily, 'Okay, okay. Brownie points for you. We'll go check it out tomorrow'.

Liz smiled and leant back forward to continue looking over the map. She was hoping to find something else of use, although she had no idea what exactly she was looking for.

Red gazed at her from the side. Her hair had half-fallen over her face and yet he could still see the look of concentration she had. He found it quite enchanting. She had seemed a little better in the last day or so, far less jumpy and anxious. Although he knew that could change in a heartbeat should the right stimulus be applied. He wished she would open up more to him but he would leave it until she was ready if he had to. Seeing her happier again wasn't something he wanted to ruin, either for himself or for her.

'Right, Elizabeth, put your toys away. Dinner is served'.

'Did you seriously just say that?'

Red laughed and turned away from her just as he saw a punch heading for his upper arm, 'I did, yes…. Ouch! I'm sorry, I have no idea where that came from'. However, he kept giggling away to himself so Liz could see he was anything but sorry.

'Oh, you are just too much. For that, I'm having the best bit of meat'.

Before Red could do anything about it, Liz had skewered the prime piece of the rabbit and deposited it on her plate.

'Fair enough. I should learn not to just blurt out the first thing that comes into my head I suppose'

'That'll be the day'

They both laughed and sat back to eat their meals. Their easy companionship was welcome to them both. It wasn't difficult to forget just what was going on out there in the world when the two of them had found themselves somewhere safe where they could relax and enjoy each other's company. Once they had finished eating, they got into the bed together and read by the light of the lamp. One or both of the couple who had lived here had been a real bookworm and so they had no shortage of literature to lose themselves in. Eventually, Liz yawned and put her book down, turning away from Red and snuggling into her pillow.

'Night, Red…..'

He decided to go to sleep himself too. Mainly because he didn't want to leave the light on and disturb Liz. Turning the dial off on the lamp, he settled himself into the bed, just a few inches away from his sleeping companion. Although Liz hadn't cuddled up next to him like she had the first night here, he still liked to be able to feel her warmth close to him as they drifted off.

The following morning, Red was up bright and early as Liz slumbered on. It amused him no end that she liked a lie-in in the morning and that she was invariably grumpy until he had made her some tea or coffee. Unfortunately that process took quite a while as he had to wait until he had gotten the fire going and boiled the water before he could deliver such treats to her. During that time, he had to put up with her sitting there, only talking to him monosyllabically. He didn't dare mention how adorable he found this as he could foresee yet another punch on the arm heading his way if he did.

Once they had eaten some breakfast and drank what was going to be one of their last cups of coffee for quite some time, sadly, they picked up some weapons and a couple of containers in which to collect water and headed off towards the lake they'd seen on the map. It was probably only about a two mile walk so they were in no real rush.

By the time they found the wooded area that had been indicated on the map, they were both ready for a sit down and a drink of water. It was unseasonably hot today and both of them had broken out in a sweat. Entering the cool of the trees was blissful and as they headed through them they soon saw the glinting of water not too far ahead.

'Oh my!'

Liz came to a stop right at the edge of the water. The lake wasn't large at all, probably only about fifty metres by twenty metres, but the water looked incredibly clear. Red walked up to the north end to inspect where the water was coming in. It flowed from a hole in the ground not far away and only travelled above ground for about five metres before reaching the lake itself.

'No wonder it's so clear. It's more of an underground spring than a stream that it's filling from. No real soil or foliage to make it dirty before it gets here'.

But Liz was barely listening. She had stripped off her shirt and was pulling off her jeans. Before Red knew what was happening, she had dove into the lake, wearing only her underwear. When she came up for air, she whooped loudly with joy and laughed.

'Elizabeth, we've not yet checked if this is safe'

'What, you think there might be sharks?', she taunted him, splashing her way to the far side.

'No, that's not what I…. Oh, for goodness' sake'.

Red now also pulled off his shirt and jeans and followed her in, intending to catch up with her before she made it the whole way across. If you can't beat 'em…..

He soon found out that she was a very strong swimmer as she easily beat him to the far bank. Coming to a stop next to her he couldn't help but smile when he saw the ecstatic look on her face.

'This is amazing, Red. It's so wonderful to have this here. I love swimming…..'

And with that she was off again, this time heading up to the north end of the lake, where Red had been exploring just before. He took off after her, not even bothering to try to catch her this time. Instead he enjoyed the feel of the water himself, feeling it refreshing him in a way he hadn't actually realised he'd needed refreshing. There really was a primal joy in swimming that couldn't be duplicated by anything else.

When Liz got to the bank, she hauled herself out of the water and turned around, sitting and watching Red approach. He looked up at her and was dumbstruck by how beautiful she looked. Her hair slicked back, her body running with water and her bra completely see-through….. He averted his eyes at once, hoping desperately she hadn't noticed where his gaze had wandered.

'Hurry up, slow coach. Weren't you in the Navy?'

'I am a very strong swimmer, Lizzy. Just not a racing one. Although if you care to wager a small bet maybe we could have a race?'

'What am I gonna bet you? Best cut of rabbit again tonight?', she said with a wink.

Red laughed and pulled himself out of the water to sit next to her, 'Well, that's an idea. I would offer you some of the money I still have stashed in the trunk of the car but I suppose that's only good as fuel for the fire now'.

'Okay…. First choice of cut of the rabbit it is. You ready?'

'Already…..?'

But Liz had already slipped back into the water and was setting off towards the far end, her powerful front crawl pulling her quickly away.

'Why, you little minx….'

Red dropped back into the water and took off after her, determined to at least make this close. He didn't think he could catch her but he wanted to get near enough to pull her foot back if he could. Two could play the dirty tricks game.

When Liz was just two metres shy of the bank, Red had caught up. He reached out and took a firm grip on her ankle, pulling her back abruptly. Liz gasped in shock but unfortunately this caused her to take a mouthful of water. By the time she was back level with Red she was choking on the water. Red cursed himself and took a hold of her, pulling her swiftly to the side and managing to get them both out of the water in no time. He laid her on her side as she coughed and spluttered, eventually managing to get all of the water out of her lungs.

'Lizzy…. I am so, so sorry. That was stupid of me'.

When Liz could talk she looked up at him and pretended to frown. But she couldn't help herself. She started laughing at the worried look on his face, which then set off another coughing fit.

'This really isn't that funny…..'

'Oh, Red, it's hilarious. You just couldn't bear to lose the best bit of meat two nights in a row. I can't believe you cheated'

'Well, in my defence, you cheated first…..'

Liz sat up and punched him on the arm again, 'That wasn't cheating. I asked if you were ready'.

Red frowned at her but then started to laugh. The impish look on her face was just too much. She was obviously very proud of the fact she'd outwitted him. He shuffled up closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze.

'You won fair and square. This time. However, there will be a rematch, mark my words'.

'Okay, Reddington, you're on'. She leant her head on his shoulder and they sat there until they were dry enough to put their clothes back on. Filling the containers they'd brought with them with water from the lake, they set off back to the house.

'You know what tonight is, Lizzy?'

'What?'

'Tonight's the night we open a bottle of that wine'


	10. Chapter 10

***Trigger warning. This chapter contains a brief description of a sexual assault. Please avoid reading if you are worried this may upset you***

Once they had returned to the cabin, Red set about boiling the water they'd retrieved from the lake. Even though they still had a lot of bottled water left, he wanted to find out sooner rather than later if it was safe to drink after he'd hopefully burnt any bacteria or parasites away.

Liz decided she would make herself useful by doing some laundry. She used as little water as she could, pouring it into a bathtub, and applied a little laundry powder before setting to work. By the time she was finished, her arms were aching and she resolved to be less fussy in the future about the level of dirt on her clothing that constituted the need for a wash. Heading back down the stairs, she found Red fast asleep in one of the chairs in the kitchen, an open book on his knee. Smiling at him, she tiptoed past and went out the back door, hoping to be able to find some kind of laundry line.

Just as she finished hanging up the last of their clothing, she heard footsteps behind her and swivelled to see Red only a few feet away. He had a mischievous look on his face and she narrowed her eyes, wondering what he had planned.

'No need to look so suspicious, my dear. I come bearing gifts'

From behind his back he produced a glass of wine for her and one for himself. Liz grinned and took hers from him, 'How does it taste?'

'I've not tried yet. Thought we could experiment together?'

'You mean you want me to be your guinea pig?"

Red clasped his hand to his heart, 'Elizabeth! I would never be so ungallant. We shall sip together. Cheers!'

They clinked glasses and hesitantly took a small sip each. Liz wrinkled her nose a little but managed to swallow hers okay. Red, of course, had a much more dramatic reaction to the wine.

'Oh…. That is truly foul'

Laughing at him, Liz took another sip whilst nodding, 'You managed not to spit it out though, well done'.

'I was sorely tempted. But in the absence of any other alcohol, I guess we're just going to have to get used to this. It may take about two bottles each before we're too drunk to care though…..'

'Yeah, well, I've no other plans for tonight so what the hell. It's about time you and I let our hair down, Mr Reddington'

'I quite agree. Now, what would Madam like for her dinner? I can offer rabbit stew, rabbit steak or rabbit surprise'.

'What on earth is rabbit surprise?'

'If you trust me with that option, you'll find out soon enough', Red said, a knowing look in his eyes.

'Fine, okay. Obviously I'm going to choose that then. You go get cooking and I'll just quickly walk the perimeter before it gets dark'

'You have your Glock?'

Liz patted the back of her jeans and turned away, striding off towards the furthest building from the house. Whilst neither of them truly believed that they would be lucky enough to see anyone approaching the house just from a morning and night walk around, it was a ritual they found reassured them just a little bit. Especially after what had happened at the shack.

By the time Liz returned, she could smell that food was nearly done. Walking in, she found Red sitting at the table, reading. He looked up and smiled as she came in, 'All clear?'

'Yeah, seems to be'

Although Red didn't point out the fact, he was immensely proud of Liz for undertaking the patrol on her own. She was obviously still traumatised by recent events but she was doing everything she could in order that her fear didn't get the better of her.

'Pull up a seat, dinner will be another five minutes or so'

Sitting down next to him, she peered at the back of the book he was reading, 'Oh my god. You're reading a romance novel!'

'Why is that surprising? I'm a very romantic person, I'll have you know'

'It just is…. I mean, I can imagine you are, I don't mean that. Just that, well, those books are really for women'.

'Elizabeth, I never thought you would be guilty of gender stereotyping. I rather enjoy the odd romance story. Especially one with saucy chapters', he finished by waggling his eyebrows at her.

'Oh, god. I wish I'd never asked. And how much of that wine have you drunk? The bottle's empty!'

'That's actually bottle number two…..'

'Red!'

'It'll all make sense in a moment, my dear. Now fetch some plates and cutlery and let's serve up, shall we?'

Liz rolled her eyes at him but went off to do as she was asked. Once she was back, Red gave them each an equal portion and looked expectantly at Liz, wanting to gauge her reaction to her dinner. She eyed him suspiciously as she forked some into her mouth and then laughed.

'Okay, now I know where the wine's gone'

'Indeed! Although I'm not going to waste any more alcohol on cooking, I just had to attempt a 'lapin au vin' one time'.

'Lapin au vin?'

'It's like coq au vin…. Only rabbit'

'Well, whatever you wanna call it, it's actually pretty delicious'

'Thank you, my dear. Bon appetit'

Over the course of dinner, Liz managed to play catch up with Red in the wine stakes. And by the time they had finished eating and retired to their 'bedroom' next door, they were both feeling positively tipsy, if not drunk. Red put some more wood on the fire and gave it a stoke, sending a flurry of sparks into the air.

'Oh, I do so love the smell of a wood fire. That is something that never gets old'

'Yeah, me too. It reminds me of Sam. He always used to light one whenever he could find an excuse'

Red returned to the couch and sat down next to Liz, only an inch or two between them, 'You know why that is?'

Liz faced him, a puzzled look on her face, 'No? I thought it was just because he enjoyed them?'

'Well, he did. But actually it was mainly because he wanted you to become unafraid of fire again after what happened that night when you were burned'

Liz instinctively looked down at her scar and started to rub it. A sad expression came over her face and Red almost wished he hadn't brought the subject up.

'Well, it worked. I don't really remember being scared of fire at all'

For a while they both just sat in silence, the reminder of their long and complicated past sitting in the air between them. However, Liz was in no mood to be mournful. Standing up, she went back into the kitchen and returned promptly, clutching yet another bottle of wine.

'Come on, let's see if it tastes better yet. This is bottle number four I believe'

Filling their glasses before setting the bottle down on the floor, Liz sat back down next to Red, as close as she could be. She then leant her head to the side and rested it on his shoulder. In turn, he moved his arm around her back and pulled her in close.

'You all right, my dear?'

'Yeah, I guess….. I was just thinking earlier when we were at the lake about how much fun it was. But then I thought…. Well, how long can we live here? Do we even want to live here? I just feel like there's stuff out there we should be doing, not just hiding away. Not just simply surviving'.

Red considered her comment for a few moments before replying, 'In all honesty, I don't really know. I think right now surviving is pretty commendable. And what we've achieved so far is not something to be taken lightly. There are a lot of people out there in a much worse position than we are'.

'Well, that's kinda what I mean. Maybe we should be trying to help some of them? We can't just cut ourselves off forever, can we?'

Red paused before answering, aware that what he was about to say may upset her. But he needed to say it and this seemed like an appropriate moment.

'I need to go back to the shack'

Liz pulled away from him, her face filled with horror, 'You what?'

'It's the only place Dembe knows to look for me. For us. I have to leave a message there for him in case he goes there'

'But those men. That man…..'

'I know, Lizzy. And that is why I'll be going alone. But I need to. I can't have Dembe turning up there and not being able to make contact with us. And not even that; what if he goes there with his daughter and granddaughter and those men manage to..'

But Liz interrupted him before he could finish, 'He must've followed me there'.

'I'm sorry?'

'The guy. He must've followed me there. You'd been alone for so long with no one and then he turns up the day after I arrive. No way it was a coincidence. I'm sorry…. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was trying to leave behind'

'Lizzy, even if that is true, it is by no means your fault. The actions of those men are not your responsibility. And I'm just glad you got as far as me before they caught up to you, if I'm honest'.

He reached out and took a hold of her chin, angling her face towards him. She smiled weakly at him and he pulled her back into his embrace, wrapping both his arms tightly around her shoulders, her face held against his chest.

'He tried to rape me'

Red waited, eager not to rush her if now was the time she wanted to tell him everything. However, after nearly a minute she'd not said another word.

'But you fought him off?'

'Only just. He hit me so hard I was knocked out… You saw the bruise from that when I got to you. When I came to….. My, my shirt was open and he had his hand down my pants. His fingers were….'. Liz took a deep, calming breath, trying not to lose her composure. She needed to get this out now, she knew that. 'There was a noise from outside, a shout. He glanced towards the front of the store and I managed to catch him by surprise, I kneed him in the crotch. He fell on top of me but I pushed him off and ran as fast and as far as I could. I don't really remember much until I was far out of town. I don't think I've ever been that scared. Not even with all the monsters we've come across'.

Red just held her tight, his jaw clenching and fury burning in his eyes. He had already decided he was going back to the shack for Dembe's sake. Now he had another reason to do so. And nothing was going to stop him from getting revenge on Liz's behalf.

Half an hour later, they were in bed, their appetite for the wine long gone. Tonight, once more, Liz curled up into Red's side and clung onto him, her tears continuing to fall. He had his arms wrapped around her too, unwilling to let go for even a second. Whilst he hated seeing her this sad, he was glad she had finally told him what had happened. Now maybe she could heal. And, he hoped, knowing that her attacker had been dealt with would help her with that healing. He lay awake for hours, hatching his plan.


	11. Chapter 11

Red drove the car off the road and as deep into the trees as he could. He was certain it wouldn't be visible either from the road or from the lane up to the shack. Just to be safe he found some leaves and branches and put them over the roof and windows so the glare from the glass wouldn't be a problem if someone did get close. Adjusting his rifle on his back and checking again his handgun was loaded, he started to creep slowly through the trees, heading up the hill towards the shack they had left less than a week ago.

Eventually he found himself as near to the shack as he dared to be. Settling himself behind a tree he brought out his binoculars and looked through them. However, because it was still an hour or so until sunrise he was unable to see anything of use. Now all he could do was wait.

Thirty minutes later, just as the cold was beginning to make itself known to his knee joints, he heard what sounded like a twig snap about fifteen metres or so behind him, back down towards the car. He stopped breathing and closed his eyes, willing his ears to to pick up any other sounds. Although he knew it was more than likely some creature out and about in the woods, he obviously couldn't take any risks, not after the last time these men had managed to creep up on him.

For ten minutes he sat there, unmoving, until he was sure whatever it was had passed on by. Glancing at his watch, he knew it wouldn't be long until it was light enough for him to see through the windows of the shack, hopefully revealing if the men were in there or not. Just as he looked back up from his watch, he heard another noise behind him, much closer this time. He swivelled and brought up his gun, aiming it into the near darkness. What he saw caused him to curse inwardly.

'Elizabeth', he whispered, 'What the hell are you doing here?'

Liz stood up from where she had been crouching behind a small ivy bush. She hadn't known where Red was hidden, she had just been making her way up from the car as quietly as she could.

'I came to help'

'We agreed that was a bad idea'

By this point, she had come level with Red and he reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling her almost painfully down to the ground with him.

'We did not agree. You decided it all by yourself'

'Lizzy, you can't be here. These men are dangerous'

'That's exactly why I am here, you idiot. We're a team, remember?'

Red hissed his breath out through his teeth and closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment to compose.

'Sweetheart, I am more than capable of handling these rednecks by myself. Having you here makes the job harder, not easier. You're in no fit state yet to face that man. If I'm being brutally honest, I don't trust you not to freeze at a critical moment'.

Liz looked at him, desperately trying to stop the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes, 'I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you come alone. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't wanna go on anyway'.

With that, Red sighed and pulled her in for a hug, 'Okay, okay….. We can make this work. But you have to promise to do exactly what I say. Deal?'

'Yeah', she said, nodding meekly at him.

'Okay, well as long as you do….. Wait. How exactly did you get here anyway?'

'Trunk'

'You sneaked into the trunk of the damn car?!', Red whispered so loudly his voice threatened to carry.

'Yeah, well, I knew I'd never persuade you so I waited for you to think you'd convinced me and then pretended to fall asleep. As soon as I saw you taking stuff out to the car I picked my moment and voila, here I am'.

Despite how angry he was with Liz, he couldn't help but be a little impressed by her acting skills. She really was the only person in the world who would've been able to fool him like that. The feelings he had for her often blinded him to her true motives. Shaking his head, he turned back to look at the shack.

'Right, it's light enough now. I'm going to go look in the windows. You stay here, Elizabeth'.

'I will'

Red eased his way out of the undergrowth and sidled slowly over towards the shack. Once there he wasted no time in looking into each of the windows and ascertaining what was inside. As he suspected, it was empty. He crept back over to Liz.

'They're not here'

'That's good, right?'

'I imagine it simply means they're living in the farmhouse itself. Which is going to be a harder job to attack. So, no, it's not good'.

Liz frowned and paused to think for a few seconds, 'Well, it's probably going to be easier to pick them off one by one. I'm sure if we wait in the trees opposite the house we'll be able to work out a way to tackle them'.

'You sure you're okay with this?'

'What?"

'Killing them?'

Liz stayed quiet. Until this moment she realised she really had been more than okay with that notion. But Red asking her outright gave her cause for reflection.

'I'm happy with killing him. I know it's murder….. But the laws now are different. I mean, there aren't any, right? It's dog eat dog, survival of the fittest. And we need to make this place safe for if Dembe comes'.

Red noticed the small caveat she had included, 'So killing him is okay. What about the other two?'

Now Liz really struggled with her conscience. She looked around them into the trees, hoping to find some kind of divine inspiration for her quandary.

'I don't know. I guess I just assumed if they were with him, they'd be like him. But maybe not. Maybe they're just staying together for mutual safety. Maybe they're normal guys'.

'Normal guys who ambushed us here'

She looked back at him, knowing that Red had already made up his mind. He was just waiting to get her consent.

'They're dead men walking, aren't they?'

'Yes they are. We can't leave any of them alive. Not with Dembe and his family possibly arriving. If we just kill the one guy, the other two would probably still stay here. I can't take that risk. And I have nothing to persuade them with to go elsewhere'.

Liz nodded, her mind made up too, 'Right, let's just do this'.

'Lizzy, you have to be able to live with yourself if we do this. You're not like me'.

She reached out and squeezed his hand in the dawn light, running her thumb across his knuckles, 'You'd be surprised just how similar we can be'.

Before Red had a chance to reply, Liz was up and walking away through the trees, towards the farmhouse. He wasn't happy at all. Not with the fact she was here, not with how unpredictable she was at the moment, and certainly not with how easily he had convinced her that two innocent men were about to be executed. But they were here now and he knew it had to be done.

Within fifteen minutes they were in place opposite the farmhouse. As it was still early, they didn't expect to see the men emerge for some time yet. Red pulled a flask of water out of his coat and they each drank, wishing it had been coffee instead. Time passed interminably slowly but then suddenly two men came out of the house and started walking right towards them.

'Shit, have they seen us?', Liz said as she pushed herself as close to the ground as she could.

'I don't know. But I doubt it. Just give them a few seconds….'

Red carefully brought his rifle up to his eye and looked down the sights. He saw the two men more clearly now and could see they had smiles on their faces. Whatever they were doing, it didn't appear that they were aware of his and Liz's presence.

'Why are they still heading towards us?', Liz muttered, and Red could hear the fear in her voice.

Suddenly he looked about them, as much as he could with the trees so close together.

'I think we might be sitting very near their toilet'

'You're kidding…. Well, that is a stroke of luck'.

Red had established that neither of the men approaching was the man who had previously attacked Liz. He told her to move off to the left of him and he headed further to the right, allowing the men to walk in between them when they got there. They both ducked down and hid quietly.

'Hey Petie, how about we go see if we can find some ass later? There's gotta be some women near here somewhere. My balls are blue, man'.

Petie laughed, looking over at his friend, 'Well, that's the wisest thing you've said in quite some time. I am definitely in the mood for pussy'.

They entered the tree line and walked in about ten metres before each going behind a different bush to do their business. Liz couldn't see Red at this point and she had no idea what to do but before she could worry too much about that, she heard the sound of a silenced pistol discharging twice in quick succession. Forgetting about being hidden, she leapt up and ran towards the noise.

Bursting through the trees, she found Red standing over the corpses of the men.

'Well, that delightful conversation told me all I needed to know about the characters of these two…..'

'Red!', Liz blurted out, interrupting him, 'What the hell? I didn't have your back, I had no idea what you were going to do!'

'Lizzy, it's okay. Shooting two morons in the back of the head whilst they're answering the call of the nature is something of which I feel I'm entirely capable'.

Liz glowered at him, unable to think of anything to counter this argument but still wanting to demonstrate how unhappy she was with his actions. She was about to get a lot angrier though.

Red stepped forward and took a hold of her wrists, 'Sweetheart, it's okay. And now we only have one more to deal with, which makes the whole thing a lot easier. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to handle him on my own too'.

'No way, Red, I am not letting you go alone….'

'Oh, I'm very aware you're not letting me', Red said as the telltale sound of a handcuff clicking into place reached Liz's ears, 'That's why you're staying here'.

Liz looked down. Red had managed to cuff her to a stout branch coming out of the tree they were standing next to. She raised her eyes back to his, fury flashing in them.

'I don't suppose this will hold you for long. But long enough. I'll be back in a jiffy, Lizzy'

Red turned and made his way through the trees, intending to travel through them to the other side of the house. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw Liz staring at him. He was more worried in that moment about returning to her than he was about his attack on the farmhouse. If looks could kill, he'd be dead and buried there and then.


	12. Chapter 12

It took Liz a lot longer than she was happy about to pick the lock on the cuffs. Turns out the end of the world as we know it means a lot fewer handy items in your pockets. Eventually she managed to pop the bracelet open and set out for the farmhouse. Despite the fact she fully anticipated that Red would have the situation under control by now, she too was cautious and approached through the trees rather than straight across the field.

Within five minutes she was standing at the back door, gun raised and ready to enter. She found herself pausing longer than she normally would in such a moment. What if Red hadn't been successful? What if her would-be rapist was alive and well and it was Red she was going to find in a pool of blood? Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth and forced those thoughts away. There was no way a two-bit punk like her attacker would get the better of Red. Especially not when Red was the one doing the stalking. Swinging her gun in front of her, she entered the building.

Clearing the first floor in just a minute she cautiously made her way up the stairs, trying hard not to give away her position by making the most basic error of creaking the old wooden treads. When she reached the top she turned towards the master bedroom. Something told her that a creep like this guy would've somehow managed to claim the best room for himself. Tiptoeing forward, she saw the door was half-open, although nothing useful was visible as yet. She took a deep breath and burst in, ready to shoot on sight.

She had clearly managed to be very quiet indeed as when she entered the room, she saw Red visibly start. He turned to her, a shocked look on his face.

'Elizabeth…'

But Liz wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the man tied to the bed, his mouth gagged. He had cuts and bruises all over his face but was conscious. Swinging her gaze to Red's right hand, she saw his knuckles were bloodied. Then she saw, in his left hand, a large and cruel looking knife. Eventually she managed to lift her eyes to meet his gaze.

'Why did you do that?'

'If you mean leave you in the safety of the trees then I hardly think I need to answer'

Liz paused. She knew that Red did have a point. She didn't really trust herself right now, her instincts were all off and fear seemed to creep up all too easily on her when she least expected it. But he had to know that she needed to be here for this. She needed to see that this man, this disgusting, depraved man, was going to get what he deserved. And that she had to be here to see this to settle her own peace of mind. To give her the opportunity to put this behind her the best she could and reclaim her former confidence.

'What's with the knife?'

Red looked down at his left hand, his cheek twitching as he looked at the curved steel he held. He didn't say anything though, merely looked back up at Liz's face, an almost apologetic expression on his own. Liz glanced at the man again as he was groaning and trying to speak through his gag. It was then that she saw that his pants had been undone. Not fully but enough that she suddenly realised just what Red had had planned for his punishment.

'Oh, Red…. No. No, don't. That's just too much…..'

She took two steps forward quickly and reached out towards Red, taking a firm hold of his left wrist and easing the knife out of his grip.

'Please. I understand why you'd want to but please don't'.

Red nodded, allowing her the knife with no attempt to stop her, 'If I'm honest, my dear, I don't think I could have anyway. It was meant to be poetic justice but it turns out even I didn't have the stomach for such an act'.

Liz exhaled, relieved, and turned away to put the knife behind her on the sideboard.

'However, I will say that I've enjoyed seeming him squirm and cry for the last five minutes, thinking I was going to castrate him'

The man tried to shout out at this point and Red shut him up by punching him hard in the area that had so recently been saved from mutilation.

'That, on the other hand, I have no compunction whatsoever in doing', he said as he turned to Liz, a somewhat evil glint in his eye.

The man had tried to curl up in on himself but due to his binds he couldn't. Tears poured from his eyes and he made sobbing noises through the cloth tightly bound in his mouth.

'Anyway, enough of this. Time to end this miserable bastard's pathetic existence'.

Red turned away and pulled his gun from his holster, levelling it at the man's head. He paused for a moment, allowing Liz to intervene should she wish to. He would even let her do it herself if she wanted. But when she did and said nothing, he simply pulled the trigger and watched with some satisfaction as a wound appeared directly between his eyes.

Holstering his weapon, he turned to Liz and put his arms around her. At first she was as stiff as a board but within seconds she was holding him tight and the floodgates had opened. She sobbed on his shoulder for some time as he stroked her back and rocked her gently in his arms.

'It's all right now, Lizzy. It's over. This piece of shit can't hurt you or anyone else ever again'.

Liz pulled back from his embrace, looking him in the eyes, 'Thank you, Red. Thank you….. And you did the right thing by keeping me away, I know that'.

He smiled and used a finger to tilt her chin up towards him, 'No need to thank me. That was almost as much for me as it was for you. And I promise never to handcuff you to a tree again. Well, probably…..'

She smirked at him and they turned to leave the room, Red picking up his hunting knife on the way out. Once downstairs, Red wrote a note for Dembe and they walked back to the cabin in order to leave it there.

'What are you writing to Dembe?'

'Well, it's not an easy one. Directions to where we are now would be vague at best. And I have no idea if he has a map. So I've instructed him to go to our storage facility in West Virginia. If he makes it here and then makes it there, I've told him to leave a note there. So, we need to stay in that area for quite a while and just make regular trips to the facility to see if he's been'.

'Sounds like a plan'

'It's not the best plan I've ever hatched but unfortunately our options are not particularly numerous these days'

'So we're gonna have to head there soon?'

'Yes. And the downside to that is that it's in Charleston so we're going to have to go into an area with far more people than I would prefer. However, there are no rurally placed facilities anywhere near here so it's our only real option. I don't suppose he'd be happy about a road trip to Texas on the off-chance of finding us there'.

Leaving the cabin, they walked on back down to the car and moved the branches away that Red had put on earlier to obscure it. Just as Red was about to get into the driver's seat, Liz reached out and took the keys away from him, 'I think it's probably my turn to drive. You need some sleep'.

Red gratefully gave up the keys. Truth be told, he was exhausted. Sleep had been hard to come by in the past few nights and today's adrenalin rush had taken it out of him. Settling into the passenger seat, he made himself comfortable and prepared to doze off. Just then a thought struck him out of the blue.

'Lizzy?'

'Yes'

'You have absolutely no idea how to get back to the house, do you?'

Liz laughed and looked over at him, 'Erm, not as such. I remember most of it as it was fairly easy. But I'm not sure about the last bit'

'Would you like me to stay awake and navigate?'

Liz patted his knee and started the engine, 'It's okay, the first couple of hours is the easy bit. I'll wake you up once we come off the second of the larger roads'

'You sure?'

'Yes, Red. Now sleep!'

She reached over and pulled his hat down over his eyes, eliciting a small laugh from him, 'Yes, Ma'am'

Within minutes Red was snoring away and Liz was annoyed with herself for not seeing if there was anything other than jazz CDs in the glovebox. Ah, well, any music sounded good at the moment if she was honest, even if this wasn't really her cup of tea.

Red awoke when the car came to a stop. He raised his head and sat blinking at the view in front of him, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

'We're back?'

'Uh-huh'

'But you were going to wake me?'

'I was…. But you looked so cute and peaceful there, I couldn't bring myself to. And it turns out my powers of navigation ain't so bad after all', she finished with a soft punch to his upper arm.

Red batted his eyelids at her, dumbfounded by her ability to have found her way back on her own. And completely speechless at the fact she'd just called him 'cute'.

'Come on, sleepyhead. I've not eaten all day and I'm absolutely starving. Let's go have a feast'.

And with that, she was out of the car and had run into the house. Red chuckled to himself and sat in the driver's seat, wanting to put the car back into the barn, hidden from sight. By the time he was back in the house, Liz had opened up a can of creamed corn and another of baked beans. She was obviously too hungry even to wait for the fire to get going to heat them. Seeing her with such a voracious appetite and full of smiles filled his heart to the brim. Something inside her had truly been lifted with the knowledge that that foul redneck had been erased from this earth.

'Planning on leaving any for me?', he asked as he sat down next to her on the floor by the still unlit fire.

'Depends how quick you are', she replied, shovelling another spoonful into her mouth.

Red picked up the spoon she'd gotten for him and took the can of corn from her, although she quickly scooped up one more portion as it disappeared from her hand.

'Good lord, I really need to feed you more. You're like a stray dog who's been offered an entire roast cow to itself'

Liz laughed, her mouth full of beans and Red tensed his arm as her fist connected with his bicep yet again. He grinned back at her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy. Well, not since Liz had found him at the cabin at any rate.

'So, after lunch, do you fancy another dip in the lake? Wash away the filth we had to wade through today?'

'As long as we have another race. One where you don't try to win by drowning me'.

Red's cheek twitched and Liz instantly moved closer, snuggling up to his side and laying her head on his shoulder.

'You know I'm only kidding, silly. But we are racing, have no doubt about that'.


	13. Chapter 13

As soon as they'd finished eating, Liz picked up their spoons and the cans and went to deal with them, immediately returning to Red.

'Okay, I saw something in one of the outbuildings and I think we should totally utilise it tonight'

'Are you going to elaborate?'

'It was a tent'

'A tent? You do realise we have a perfectly functional house here, don't you?'

'Yes, silly-billy, but I thought it would be fun if we camped out by the lake after we go for our swim. We can cook over a fire, drink wine, gaze at the stars….'

'No need to continue. You had me at 'drink wine', Elizabeth. It's a plan'.

Liz beamed at Red and clapped her hands together, 'Yes! Lemme go get the tent and I'll be back in a mo. You work out what else we should take….'

Liz's last few words were thrown back over her shoulder as she darted from the room. Red couldn't help but laugh at her joy. Oh, he so loved to see her like this again. And the idea of camping out in a tent with her by the lake, under the stars…. But he didn't want to get ahead of himself. And, more importantly, ahead of her. He would see how it played out. Standing up, he set about gathering everything they would need.

By the time Liz was back from the outbuilding with a smallish looking tent, Red had all the supplies packed up in a couple of bags that were straining at the seams.

'Red, I only meant tonight, not permanently'

'In my defence….'

'This should be good'

'One bag is mostly wine and water'

Liz raised an eyebrow at him.

'Well, wine'.

Liz laughed and put the tent down for a moment, 'Okay, you win. That's a great defence. You ready to go?'

Red nodded eagerly and they packed themselves up and set out for the lake, both with a newly found spring in their steps. It took them no time at all to get there and by the time they arrived they were both desperate to dive in, another unseasonably warm day having made them both break out into a sweat. Within thirty seconds they were stripped down to their underwear and in the water, loving the coolness of the lake after what had been a stressful day.

For a while they just splashed around and cooled off with no agenda. Even Liz didn't seem too eager to start racing. Somehow competitiveness didn't seem to be required, even after her earlier stated desire to race Red again. Much to Red's happiness, Liz never ventured far from where he was, occasionally ducking underwater and coming up in front of him, splashing him or jumping into his arms. If he didn't know better, or assume he did, he'd have sworn she was flirting with him. After an hour or so in the water, they pulled themselves out, exhausted.

'Okay, I guess we'd better see about getting this tent put up before we get distracted by our refreshments'

'You mean before you drink a bottle of wine in half an hour and decide to have a snooze?'

'I think that's what I said, Lizzy', Red said, winking at her.

Between the two of them it took only about forty minutes to get the tent up perfectly and their bedding ready for later. It was only a two-man tent with just about enough room for their bags to be in there with them in the dry, in case of rain. Looking at their bed Red smiled to himself. It was certainly going to be cosy tonight.

'Shall I get a fire going?'

'Yes, my dear, capital plan. I'll get the rabbit ready. And prepare this positively gourmet can of runner beans'.

Liz giggled as she ventured off into the trees to gather some wood. Red had brought some newspapers with them as tinder so she just needed some kindling and some larger logs. It took her only a few minutes to gather it all and head back to camp.

Two hours, two large platefuls of food and two bottles of wine later and they were both lying next to the fire, their heads propped on the bags, just staring at the stars and talking about nothing in particular. Which suited Liz just fine. She knew she was happy about what had happened earlier that day but she also knew this wasn't the end of her trauma from the original event. If only it were that simple. Still, this was a great start. She hadn't felt this calm and relaxed in what felt like forever.

'And then, would you believe, the Greek fellow had the audacity to say that I was the one cheating at cards? As if everyone there didn't know full well he'd had aces up his sleeves or something all game. Obviously as he had more armed men there than the rest of us, we just had to put up with it. But when he said I was cheating just because I'd gotten lucky two hands in a row… Elizabeth, are you listening?'

'Yes'

'Really?'

'Yes, you'd gotten lucky two nights in a row'

Red snorted and struggled manfully to keep his mouthful of wine in his mouth, managing to do so although only at the expense of a prolonged coughing fit afterwards.

'What?'

'That's not quite what I said, sweetheart'

'Oh, sorry. My mind had wandered'

Red smiled at her and stroked her arm soothingly, 'Don't you worry. It wasn't one of my best stories anyway. More wine?'

Liz stretched her glass towards him and he topped it up before doing the same with his own. As they drank he watched her from the corner of his eye. She seemed okay but he felt the need to distract her a little better than with more rambling tales of his adventures.

'Care for a midnight walk?'

'Red, it's about 9pm'

'Poetic licence'

She smiled at him and nodded. Rising carefully to his feet, he reached back down to her, offering his hand to pull her up. As she stood she found herself face to face with him, mere inches apart. For a second he thought she was going to kiss him but then she reached back down for the bottle and grabbed a hold of his hand, pulling him into the trees.

'We'll need this if we're gonna walk more than ten minutes'

'A girl after my own heart'. Red winced as the words came out of his mouth but Liz didn't seem to notice or mind.

Walking through the trees, eventually they got to the edge of the field surrounding the woods. The light here was amazing, the near full moon casting everything in an otherworldly glow. They both just stood and stared, their breath truly taken away by the beauty of the landscape.

'Oh my…. I'd forgotten just how alien bright moonlight is in the absolute darkness of the countryside'

Liz decided she didn't want to go any further and so she sat down, pulling Red down with her, 'There's no need to go any further. This is perfect'.

'I concur entirely'

They sat together, shoulder to shoulder, wordlessly staring at the landscape. There were no lights to be seen, no glows of cities, no aeroplanes. It was both wonderful and yet heartbreaking. Neither of them could think of anything to say so they both just drank their wine and enjoyed the closeness of each other.

After a while Red noticed that Liz had wrapped her arms around herself, obviously getting cold. Taking the initiative, he stood and helped her up, 'Come on, let's get back to the fire. Assuming it's still burning that is…..'

They made their way back through the trees, wishing they'd brought a flashlight with them. Thankfully there were no tripping incidents and once they could see the dull glow of the campfire they sped up, both eager to be back within its warm circle.

Liz sat down right in front of it, feeding it more logs and giving the embers a good poke with a stick. Within minutes it was back roaring away, the dryness of the wood meaning that there was no danger of it going out anytime soon.

'Well done, Elizabeth. You must have been a girl scout'.

Liz smirked at him then her mouth fell a little.

'What's wrong?'

She paused before answering, 'You always used to call Donald a Boy Scout. Guess it just made me realise I have no idea if he's alive or dead. Not to mention Aram or Samar or Cooper…..'

Red sidled up next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close, 'If anyone could survive in this world, it's them. And Dembe. We need to have faith, Lizzy'.

'Yeah…..'

'Do you fancy turning in for the night? I have to say this wine has made me rather sleepy'.

Liz nodded her assent and they stood up. Red found some rocks to put around the fire and moved the unlit logs away from its reach. It would go out before too long but by then hopefully they would be sound asleep and less in need of its warmth. Liz went into the tent, having taken a bottle of water from the bag with her, and Red followed close behind. They left the flap open so they could watch the fire from their bed as it slowly died down to a dull glow.

Lying there in the dark, Red desperately searched for something to say. He couldn't tell if Liz was just drunk or if she was sad or reeling from the day's events or…. He just wanted to help her however he could but he had no clue how. Instead of verbal reassurance, he reached his hand out under the bedding and took a hold of hers. She clasped it immediately and held him fast. He smiled sadly at her need but was glad he could fulfil it for her.

'Are you all right, Lizzy?'

'I guess'

'Big day'

'Yeah…..'

Before Red knew what was happening, Liz had moved towards him, throwing her leg over his hips and straddling him. Her lips met his hungrily, her hands clasping his head tightly. He couldn't think straight. It was so sudden and he was very drunk. He returned her kiss tentatively and his hands only rested gently on her thighs. She seemed determined to continue kissing him and so he just allowed himself to be kissed. Every second of it was a sweet torture to him. But she needed something. And he would always give her what she needed. No matter what the cost was to him.


	14. Chapter 14

Liz woke slowly, desperately trying to remain otherwise. Her mouth was parched and her feet were freezing. She had tried to open her eyes but decided against it when the rising sun blazed through the tent's thin lining and made her groan. She could feel Red's solid, warm bulk behind her and wriggled herself back closer to him, his arms encircling her and holding her close. She smiled to herself. She was sure he was still asleep as his breathing hadn't altered even with the movement but the fact he had automatically reached out to embrace her unconsciously made her feel secure. She huffed out a light sigh and settled down to sleep some more if she could. Then Red moved a little, his legs stretching out, and she felt a hardness against her backside. Suddenly last night came flooding back to her and she sat up, wrenching herself from his arms and throwing off the sheets. She heard him muttering something, coming to at last, but by then she was standing outside, trying hard not to hyperventilate. Oh god, what had she done?

'Lizzy, are you okay?'

She turned and saw him crawling out of the tent before pushing himself up to stand next to her. He still looked half-asleep, his eyes blurry. Looking at his clothing, she noticed he was still fully dressed. Although all but two of the buttons on his shirt had been ripped open. She winced and turned away from him again, a deep red colour making its way from her chest upwards to the top of her forehead.

'Hey, Lizzy, what is it?'

'Nothing… I just needed some air. Too much wine. And some water…..'

She bent down and picked up a bottle, keeping her back to him the whole time. She couldn't think of a single thing to say. The last thing she could remember was throwing herself at him in the tent. She didn't think more had happened than just some kissing but she was terrified that she'd made a fool of herself. Red's shirt and his morning 'happiness' at feeling her close suggested maybe more had occurred than she could recall. To her horror, he came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

'Sweetheart, if you're worried about last night then please don't be'

She forced herself to turn and slowly brought her eyes up to his, so fearful of whatever she might see there. All she saw was affection and kindness. No disappointment, no regret, nothing negative. She felt the tightness in her chest start to ease.

'Red….. I can't really remember much. I'm so sorry. I was drunk and I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry about your shirt and please don't think I'm like that and…..'

He hushed her with a gentle finger on her lips, a knowing twinkle in his eye, 'Elizabeth, nothing happened. Just some kissing. Some very nice kissing might I add'.

The relief on her face caused Red to laugh at her, not unkindly, 'It's good to know that knowing that nothing serious happened makes you happy, sweetheart. Although, I have to say that I would think I'm still quite a catch you know'.

She looked at his eyes again. He was hiding his pain from her for her sake. Like he always did. Her obvious happiness at not having slept with him was probably breaking his poor heart. Without overthinking it she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

'Red, I'm gonna say this to your shoulder rather than your face, because I'm pretty embarrassed right now'

This make Red chuckle, the deep echoing in his chest sounding wonderful to her ears, one of which was closely clamped over his heart at that moment.

'If I had slept with you last night, I would regret it'

Yeah, that was definitely his heart speeding up. She continued on quickly.

'But not because I don't want to. Because we were drunk and I love you more than that'.

Oh boy, now she was starting to worry about his blood pressure. She stood back and faced him, keeping a hold of his hands as she did so.

He was completely silent, just gaping at her with awe. Or was it confusion? She had no idea but she knew that he believed her, which was all that mattered.

'Sweetheart, did you just say you loved me?'

She quickly ran back over her words. Yeah, that had slipped out. Genius. Just to add more emotional angst to the situation.

'Er, yeah'

'And you meant it?'

She frowned at him, her lips wrinkling in a way he knew all too well, 'Of course I meant it. I don't go around saying that to just anyone!'

He beamed at her and pulled her in towards him, clasping her nearly as tightly as she had him a few moments earlier.

'I love you too, Lizzy. I love you so much'

She smiled, holding him close to her as he rocked them gently for a while. When he pulled back and rested his head against hers, she slipped her hands around his neck, linking them and keeping him near. When he pulled back and look into her eyes, she knew he was going to kiss her. And she knew she wanted nothing more in the whole world. Their lips met again, this time with feeling and love passing between them, not just wanton lust and need. Everything else around them ceased to exist. The sensations of each other's mouths and hands took over all the sensory input that either of them could handle.

However, and hugely regrettably on both their parts, this kiss ended when they heard something in the bushes. Red moved in front of Liz, his hand immediately finding his gun which he had just about had the mental ability to fit to his belt as he had risen. Staring into the bushes behind the tent he saw some of the foliage move.

'Lizzy, get your gun and stay down'

Before she had a chance to argue, Red had plunged into the bushes and near out of sight. She dived into the tent and grabbed her Glock, emerging as quickly as she could and following him. By the time she found him, the drama had passed. Red was sitting, watching a baby deer run off towards the edge of the woods.

'Oh, you're kidding me. That's all it was?'

'That's all it was', Red said with a smile.

'You don't want venison for dinner?'

'Ha! I did consider it but it's only a baby. And I'm in such a very good mood right now I just didn't have the heart'.

They walked back to the tent, now feeling a little more aware of what had just happened between them. Neither could think of anything to say. Red placed his gun at the edge of the water and took Lizzy's from her, putting it beside his.

'What are you…..'

But that was all she managed. He lifted her up with hardly any effort and then jumped into the water with her, Liz screaming as they plunged.

When they came up for air, Liz pushed Red away, mock angry, 'Raymond Reddington, it is absolutely freezing in here! You could have warned me!'

He laughed and started to swim away from her, 'Elizabeth, had I warned you, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish it'.

She laughed at his retreating form. Well, he had that right. Ooh, he was in such trouble right now. Stretching herself out she started to swim after him, determined to reach him and make him pay. Even in her delicate state she managed to catch up in under thirty seconds. As he had done to her, she reached out and grabbed his foot, halting his progress. He turned to her, a huge smile on his face, awaiting his punishment.

'Why are you looking so happy with yourself?'

'Well, you see Elizabeth, I was in a win-win situation. If I had continued to get away from you then I am victorious. But as you caught me I am also victorious. Thinking about it, you catching me is far preferable though'

She scowled at him but he propelled himself into her arms before she had a chance to retort. His lips were on hers at once, gentle yet insistent. She had absolutely no defence against him. She groaned into his mouth and held on tight to his broad shoulders.

They stayed like that for some time, just kissing and touching each other. Their hands never roaming anywhere too risqué, but before long it started to get heated. Red used his arm around her back to pull her closer and suddenly she could feel his arousal against her stomach. Without really realising what she was doing she pushed him away, backpedaling through the water, a look of fear on her face.

'Oh Lizzy….'

She stopped. He looked so broken. One second everything had been perfect, the next….. This.

'I'm sorry. It's not you, Red. I just maybe need a little longer before I'm ready for….. Well, ready for more'

Red nodded at her, his face full of concern and love. He shook his head and bit his lip.

'I know, sweetheart. And I'm the one who should be sorry. I got carried away. Come on, let's get back to shore and pack up and go to the farmhouse'

She nodded shyly at him and they both turned to swim back towards their tent. It took them hardly any time at all to get everything put away and soon they were setting out across the fields back to their new home. As they were walking Liz slyly looked up at Red from the side and saw he had a deep frown on his face. She shifted the bag she was carrying from one shoulder to the other and reached her hand out, clasping his tightly.

'Don't look so worried, Red. This is new territory for me too. Even I'm not sure how ready I am for it. You've done nothing wrong at all'

He looked at her and smiled, a smile full of love and appreciation. Squeezing her hand tightly, he carried on walking, eager to get home and to start to make a new life for them both in this world as more than just friends. Even if it took years, he would wait for her.


	15. Chapter 15

When they got back to the house, Liz started to put away their camping gear whilst Red turned his hand to lighting a fire to prepare them some food. Sitting down to eat at the table, they both tucked in hungrily, their hangovers and the fact they'd not eaten for about fourteen hours suddenly giving them both a near insatiable appetite.

Eventually, they pushed their plates away and sat back in their seats, happily full. Red went to pick up the dishes to go to wash them but Liz stilled him with a hand on his arm.

'No rush, Red. I'll do them in a moment. You cooked, after all'

'Your wish is my command, Lizzy'

'When it involves you not moving after eating about half a kilo of meat anyway'

'Yes, those wishes will always be strictly obeyed'

Red sat forward again, a more serious look on his face and gazed into Liz's eyes, 'I need to ask you something'.

Liz swallowed and nodded for him to go on, suddenly nervous as hell.

'Oh, no need to look so concerned, my dear. I just need to know if you think you're up for a trip to Charleston tomorrow? I would really like to get to my container there to leave a message for Dembe as soon as I can'

At first Liz was relieved at the fact that was all Red had wanted to ask her. But then she imagined the trip into the unknown. And not just the unknown but to a fairly populous town. She could feel butterflies in her stomach at the very idea and silently tried to will them away.

'Yes, of course I am'

Red could see that she was putting on a brave face for him and whilst he was proud of her for doing so, he also didn't want to force her into doing something she wasn't yet ready for. He stretched his arm out and took a hold of her hand.

'Sweetheart, I appreciate your courage in saying so but if you don't feel you're able to accompany me, I can go alone. You can stay here and keep yourself busy I'm sure. I would only be gone for a few days at most. But I really do need to go tomorrow. I can't risk Dembe getting there before I get a chance to leave him a message with directions here'

Liz folded both her hands around his larger one and looked him in the eyes. She drew a shaky breath and replied, 'If I'm honest, the idea terrifies me. But I'm not overly keen on the idea of staying here alone either. And there's no way in hell I'm letting you go alone. I'd have thought you would've realised that after your attempted solo mission back to the cabin'.

Red smirked at her comment and quirked an eyebrow, willing her to continue.

'We need to do this for Dembe. And, like you say, it has to be now. So I'm coming with you'

'Good girl'

'And if you even think for a second about slipping away in the middle of the night without me, rest assured I will get that old tractor in the barn working in record time and I will follow you and I will flatten you. Got that?'

Red tried to keep a straight face but there was no chance. He grinned broadly at her and laughed, moving his chair closer so he could take her in his arms.

'I've got it. We'll go together, you have my word'

Staying in each other's arms for a few moments longer, Liz briefly considered kissing him but decided against it. She couldn't quite put her finger on why but the last twenty-four hours or so had just been such a topsy-turvy ride, her emotions couldn't handle yet more awkwardness between them. Drawing back, she stood up and took the dishes to wash them.

Over the course of the afternoon they sat looking at maps of the roads they would be traveling the next day. Annoyingly, there was no city map of Charleston so they would just have to rely on Red's memory when they got there to find his container but he seemed fairly confident he could locate it.

'It's very near the State Capitol building. Huge thing with a golden dome. We find that and I'll find where the container is. Don't worry Lizzy, I have an excellent memory for locations'

Liz raised an eyebrow at him but she smiled too, knowing that he rarely boasted without there being some truth behind his confidence.

'Our main issue is going to be getting there I fear. I have no real hope that all the major roads will be clear. In fact, I feel we may come into more trouble on them than if we keep to the smaller roads. It'll take longer but we're far less likely to get stuck or come across the kind of people best avoided'.

Liz agreed with this and so they set out working out a route that fulfilled those criteria. And then made sure they could find plenty of alternatives should their way be blocked somehow. Although obviously they were going to take the map with them, they both knew that in the heat of the moment having a good idea where you were and where the best escape route was was a far preferable option to sitting staring at said map as a crowd of scavengers or troublemakers surrounded their car.

'I think we're going to need to pack as if we'll be away for some time, Lizzy. We have no idea how bad the roads will be or if we might get trapped in the city somehow. We'll need large backpacks so we can carry as much food, water and ammo as we might need. If we're lucky, we'll be back tomorrow night. If not….. Well, who knows'.

He glanced at Liz as he was saying this and saw her frown. He didn't mean to scare her with his words, but he needed her to be prepared to be away from their sanctuary for a while if needs be.

'Are you okay with that, sweetheart?'

She nodded and made a 'hmmmm' noise. His mouth twitched. She could never bring herself to admit a single moment of weakness. He found that utterly adorable. And yet he needed to know this time that she truly was ready.

'Lizzy, please look at me'

She did, her big blue eyes staring at him, equally full of doubt and resolution. He felt his heart skip a beat as he stared into them. In that moment, he felt the full surge of love he had for this woman. The balance of her fear with her determination to overcome that fear was surely the bravest thing he'd ever seen. And he admired and adored her so much for it. Gathering his thoughts before the pause went on too long, he continued,

'I can still go by myself. It's never too late for you to change your mind. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to…'

Liz reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing his fingers tightly, 'No, Red, it's okay. It really is. I am scared but I can do this. And if we need to be away for a week or even more then it'll be fine. Really'.

He ran his thumb over her fingers, memorising each curve of knuckle and length of smooth skin, 'You are so wondrously courageous, Elizabeth. You never fail to astound me'.

Liz felt tears pricking her eyes and turned her head down, not wanting to start to cry, 'Oh, don't be so silly'.

'I mean it'

'I know you do but seriously, you're gonna have to stop or I'm gonna cry again'

Red stood and bent down to kiss the top of her head, his hands lingering on her shoulders for a few moments, 'No more tears. I shall stop complimenting you at once'.

Liz laughed, loving him for taking the sting out of yet another difficult moment for her.

'Besides, most of the people out there will be harmless. Poor things will be hungry and cold. The few dangerous ones we might come across…. Well, they should be scared of us. We're armed to the teeth. I'm a fully trained FBI agent and you were No.1 on the FBI's most wanted. So we're going to do this thing and it's going to be fine. And I really mean that, Red'.

He stepped away from her for a second, gazing down with a little amusement, 'Well, it wasn't quite Henry V but I concur. Once more unto the breach dear friend, once more'.

This, he quickly realised he should have predicted, gained him a punch. As he was standing and she was still sitting, the punch arrived mid thigh and he yelped as her fist connected.

'Stop showing off. I never claimed to be Shakespeare'

Red was laughing now and rubbing his thigh, 'I apologise. Now, let's get some packing done before it gets dark. We may need to go find something from the outbuildings'.

Standing to join him, Liz linked her arm through his as they headed outside to search for whatever they thought they would need. Most of that stuff was in the car or the house already but they thought it couldn't hurt to have a thorough look through all the other things that were here too.

It took them nearly 3 hours to decide exactly what they would take. Most of it was obvious stuff but they also needed to figure out what the absolute essentials were. These would go in the backpacks as they knew that they would have to be prepared to leave the car if circumstances dictated it. They didn't take too many of the weapons, knowing that losing the car would just mean losing them. Instead they opted for two handguns, a shotgun and an assault rifle with a decent scope on it. Then they crammed in as much ammo as they could. They also each had a few cable ties in case they needed to tie anyone up and a knife each. The rest of their bags were full of compact items of food and water and a couple of coats. They would take lots more water in the car, as losing that wouldn't be the end of the world and having a supply 'on tap' would be very handy.

Sitting down at the table, his back aching terribly, Red sighed.

'You know, I'm pretty sure we could get the kitchen sink in your bag if we tried hard enough'

'Hey'

'Seriously, Lizzy. Or maybe we could add a foot massager?'

'Just because my bag's heavier than yours does not mean my stuff is less important'

'How can it be so much more heavy though, I really don't understand it. Please let me have a look'.

'Seeing as you asked so nicely…..'

Red got to his feet.

'No'

'What?'

'Red, I have the same stuff as you. Maybe it's just I have more water or something. Stop looking at me so suspiciously'

By now he was at her side, trying to look over her shoulder into her bag. This earned him an elbow in the side and a glare from Liz, 'You are so nosey!'

'I'm just intrigued'

'You'll find out in due course what magic items I have. And I'm sure you'll be grateful for a few of them too so just have some patience, mister'.

Red sat down at the table again, a pouty look on his face. Spotting his sulky demeanour, Liz wandered over and before Red knew what was happening, she was sitting in his lap.

'Now, what can I do to take your mind off my packing skills?'

Red was about to answer but he didn't have a chance. She leant in and kissed him and within half a second, Liz's rucksack was the last thing in the world on his mind.


	16. Chapter 16

They set off at first light the following day. Whilst there was nothing that could be done about the noise of the car engine possibly attracting attention, they could at least hide their presence a little by not having to use the headlights. Liz sat in the passenger seat, the map book open on her lap, her head nodding regularly as she desperately tried to stay awake.

She hadn't slept a wink the previous night. At least that's how she felt. They had finished packing all their belongings they were taking into the car and had decided to have an early night. She cuddled up to Red in their bed and clasped him closely to her. He knew she was scared and so didn't entertain for one second trying anything romantic. He just held her tight and prayed she managed to get some rest. Within an hour he was fast asleep and snoring lightly. Liz found his soft snores endearing and they didn't bother her at all but sleep just didn't want to seem to arrive for her that night.

Red took his eyes off the road for a second and glanced over at Liz, trying so hard to stop herself dropping off. He reached his hand over to lift her hair out of her face.

'Sweetheart, the first part of this journey is very simple. You have at least an hour until I'm going to need some navigation assistance, all being well. Why don't you just try to rest?'

'Hmmmm…. I don't want to leave you alone'

'I'm hardly alone', he said, a soft smile on his lips, 'You're right here should I need you. And I think a loud blast of Dizzy Gillespie will bring you from your slumbers in no time'.

Liz smiled at him, her eyes already starting to close, 'Okay, just promise me you'll wake me if you need anything'.

'I will, my dear. Now rest, please'

Within no more than fifteen seconds, Liz's head was against the window and he could tell she had dozed off already. He was sorely tempted to touch her hair again, it having fallen over her face, but made himself resist. Waking her up now would be rather counterproductive. Glancing down at the map with the notations they'd made to it, he saw that there should be a turning coming up in about ten miles. After that, there was a good eighty mile stretch until the next piece of navigation would be required. Stretching his back, he settled down and made himself comfortable.

Within two hours they were nearly at the next junction. Red hadn't been driving too fast as he was wary of whatever he might find beyond the next bend. Plus he wanted to conserve fuel so speeding would not be wise. As luck would have it, he turned the last bend before the junction and there was a gas station by the side of the road. Pulling in, he parked up right on the edge of the road, ready to drive off at the first sign of any danger.

The car's lack of motion woke Liz instantly and she looked up blurrily from under heavy eyelids, 'Are we here already?'

'Heavens no, I'm sorry to say we're not. But I thought we could try to fill up the gas tank if possible'

Liz sat up, sleep falling away from her rapidly as she saw they were back in what could be considered civilisation. Glancing about nervously, she reached down and palmed her weapon, checking the safety was off.

Red saw how she instantly became on edge and reached over to still her hand, which was holding the gun in a vicelike grip, 'Easy, sweetheart. I doubt there's anyone here. It doesn't look like there has been for quite a while'.

'Yeah, yeah, I know…'

'We won't be able to utilise the pumps but there are a few vehicles here I can try. First let's clear the building though, eh?'

Getting out of the car together, they met at the front and walked towards the office. It wasn't a large place at all but there were three cars parked up at the side. Red pondered whether to try to get in the back door but then decided it was all much of a muchness really. Anyone inside would already know they were here from their engine. They cautiously approached the glass door at the front and went to enter. However, they were immediately thwarted as the door was an electronic sliding one which, of course, did not obey their commands. Red laughed and Liz glanced at him, frustration written on her face. He winked at her.

'That was embarrassing. Okay, we'll try the back door after all'

The back door was pleasingly old fashioned in that it only needed a handle to be operated. It was also wide open. Red went in first, Liz hard on his heels. Within twenty seconds, they had cleared the small building. There was nobody here and it really did feel like it had been that way for some months.

'There you go, Lizzy. You handled that just fine'

'I was nervous as hell'

'I know', Red said as he pulled her in for a quick hug, kissing her temple lovingly, 'But you did it'.

They quickly scoured the shelves and vending machines for anything they could procure. Liz emptied the entire contents of the medicine cabinet into a bag and Red located some sugary drinks and chips. Along with yet more blessed jerky, there wasn't really much left worth taking. The fresh food had long since expired and even some of the long-life breads and cakes were looking rather the worse for wear.

'You're stocking up on Mountain Dew?'

'Don't judge me, Elizabeth. I have a sweet tooth and it's been sorely neglected for some time now'

'You'd better hope we locate a dentist at some point then'

Red frowned at her but was happy to see her mood had lifted a little, 'My teeth are well trained in the art of sugar consumption. And I'm sure you'd happily employ some pliers should one rebel and need to be removed'

'Ewww, Red, are you kidding me? I couldn't do that!'

'Oh, I think if I annoyed you enough as motivation you'd manage just fine, my dear'

She sighed at him and rolled her eyes, 'Yeah, thinking about it again, you're probably right'.

Collecting everything they wanted, they went back out the rear of the building and headed towards the cars. All of them were locked, meaning the fuel caps were also locked so Red went back to their car to find some tools he could use to open them up. Liz leant against an ancient Ford and sipped on the Mountain Dew.

'Elizabeth Keen!'

She looked up, not knowing what on earth she had done wrong but seeing Red striding towards her, a crowbar in his hand.

'What?'

'Are you drinking my sugary drink that you, no more than two minutes ago, gave me grief for lusting after?'

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him, before taking another big gulp, 'Guess I am. What you gonna do about it?'

He reached her side and narrowed his eyes before pushing the bottle from her mouth, 'Well, at least give me a taste'

He bent his head down and kissed her gently, his tongue running along her lips and darting quickly into her mouth.

'Oh, that is delicious'

Liz found herself blushing, knowing that he wasn't talking about the drink anymore, 'Okay, you, fun's over. Let's get the fuel out if we can and get back on the road'.

Red smiled down at her, an infuriatingly smug grin on his face, and then turned to the car to start to work removing the fuel cap. The first two cars were empty and Red started to get a sinking feeling. However, he wasn't going to give up. Finally levering off the third cap, he stuck the hose in and started sucking. To his joy, his mouth was full of gas in seconds, meaning the tank had plenty to offer.

'You're so not getting a kiss now'

Red nearly choked at Liz's comment and spat the gas out all over the ground, coughing loudly as he did so. Liz laughed at him before realising that he really was in some pain. She hastily handed him the bottle of her drink to wash his mouth out with and patted him on his back. It took nearly a minute but eventually his colour returned to normal and his eyes stopped watering.

'Dear god, woman. Never make me laugh again when I have a mouthful of gas'

'That's probably not a very difficult promise to make but okay, I promise. And I am sorry, I didn't think that would happen'

'It's quite all right. I've recovered now. But I'm going to need some caviar or something to take that taste away I think'

'Right, I'll get right on that request. Oh, wait, hold on….'

Liz darted off back into the building and emerged a few seconds later, carrying a few packs of gum, 'Here you go. Spearmint should help'.

Red gratefully took some from her and started chewing at once, smiling his gratitude at her as it began to work.

'Okay, let's get the car and we can siphon this straight into the tank'

'Is it the right fuel?'

'It's not diesel so I'm guessing it should be. A car this age certainly wouldn't have leaded fuel. I'm sure it'll be fine'.

Five minutes later and they were back on the road, the car's tank nicely full once again. Red had worked his way through nearly a whole pack of gum already, swapping sticks the second one lost its flavour. As they pulled up at the junction just beyond the gas station, he leant over and pointed to where they were on the map.

'You see? We've come this far already. We're making good time. So, we go right here and then…' Red allowed his fingers to do the talking as he traced the next part of their route on the map. Liz nodded as he did so, it looked easy enough. Assuming there were no surprises up ahead.

Red slid the car into drive mode and pulled away, 'Do you feel better for your nap?'

Liz stretched her arms out in front of her and exhaled softly, 'God, yes. It may not have been long but I feel a hundred times better than I did when we set out. If you want, I can do some driving soon?'

'I'm all right for now, thank you. But never fear, I will certainly ask if I do start to get fatigued. Maybe we can stop in an hour or so and have some lunch?'

'Good idea'

'Do we have anything strong tasting?'

Liz laughed, knowing exactly why he was asking, 'Erm, I'm not sure…. We have canned chilli con carne?'

'That oughta do it. The gum only works for about a minute and then the flavour goes'

'I really am sorry, Red'

He reached his hand over and took hers in it, 'It's fine, my dear. Just need to make sure the taste has gone by nighttime or I won't be getting my bedtime kiss'

He looked over at her and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, Liz laughed at him, gently slapping his forearm. Turning back to look at the road she gasped loudly and cried out, 'Stop Red!'.


	17. Chapter 17

Red had floored the brake pedal before he'd even turned his head to see what was there. And when he saw what he had come within no more than thirty centimetres of hitting, his heart nearly stopped. A small boy, no more than five years old was standing in front of their vehicle, his eyes large in terror as he stared up at them.

'Jesus Christ', Red exclaimed, taking a large shaky breath. Before he could manage to undo his seatbelt, Liz was already out of the car and scooping the small boy into her arms.

'Hey little guy, hey there. You're okay. You're okay'.

Red joined her at the front of the car, quickly ascertaining that the child had no marks on him before he looked around them, checking the trees at either side. Surely this boy wasn't alone? He unfastened his holster, just in case the boy's companions were of the unpleasant variety. He saw nothing at all, heard nothing, and so turned back to focus on the child, now clinging tightly to Liz's neck, his head burrowed under her chin.

'Is he all right?'

'I think so. He's just in shock a little. Get him a drink'

Red went and fetched some water from the car and a packet of chips, should the kid be hungry. Bringing them back, he unscrewed the bottle and handed it to Liz. She slowly managed to coax the boy from her body and stood him back down on the road, crouching next to him, her hand holding one of his securely.

'Here you go, have some water'

The boy looked at her a little unsurely at first but then his thirst got the better of him. Liz tipped the bottle up and he drank nearly half of it in under twenty seconds. As he started to cough, having overdone it a little, Liz pulled the bottle away, smiling at him.

'Okay, you rascal, no need to drink it all at once. We have lots more you can have'. As she said this to him, she lightly tickled his side. Between being called a rascal and being tickled by Liz, the boy managed a small laugh. He smiled at Liz openly and she grinned back. However, when he glanced up at Red, his smile fell immediately. Red realised that him towering over the child, a worried look on his face, was not particularly friendly and so he too knelt down next to him.

'Hi there. My name's Red. And this is Lizzy. What's your name?'

He stared solemnly at Red for fully ten seconds before replying, 'Zach'.

'Oh gosh! That's incredible!'

Despite his shyness and cautiousness towards Red still, the boy couldn't help himself, 'What is?'

'Zach's my favourite name in the whole world!'

Zach smiled shyly at Red, his distrust of him starting to crumble.

'And you know what I've always found about people called Zach?'

He shook his head in the exaggerated manner that only little kids seem to manage, still staring hard into Red's eyes.

'I've found that they all absolutely love potato chips'.

As Red said this, he brought the bag from behind his back, opened it up and held it towards Zach. This time there was no hesitation whatsoever. The poor boy was obviously as hungry as he had been thirsty. He took a large chip in each hand and started to eat them, taking alternate bites from each as he happily munched away.

'So, Lizzy. Where on earth do you think our new friend may have come from?', Red asked, smiling at Zach the whole time. He and Liz obviously needed to converse but they didn't want to frighten the child by saying anything that might worry him. Liz had her hand gently resting on Zach's hip and Red held the bag of chips for him, loving the way Zach seemed to have to have a chip in each hand at all times.

'Well, Red, I'm not sure. I think he must have some family or friends with him. I mean, a little guy like this can't be on his own out here'

'Yup, that's what I was thinking too. But where are they? I've not seen anyone else. Maybe he is on his own?'

Zach had been carefully following their conversation and at this point he interrupted, 'Mummy and Daddy are here. I'm not alone'.

'Oh, Zach, well that's excellent news! I'm very happy to hear it. Now where are your mummy and daddy right now?'

However, this was all Zach could add. He glanced behind him up the road, the way that Red and Liz had been heading towards. But then he just looked back at them, his eyes looking tearful. Liz pulled him towards her gently.

'Oh, don't worry, sweetie. Red and I are really, really good at finding people. We'll help you find your mummy and daddy'

The kid didn't look too sure of her words but at least he stopped from crying. 'Do you remember where you last saw them?'

Zach just pointed back the way he had previously looked. He then shrugged slightly. He didn't seem able to add any more than that just now.

'What about when? How long do you think it is since you last saw them?'

He looked up at the sky, gently biting his lip as he did so, the cogs whirring away in his little brain, 'Before I sleep'

'You were asleep?'

'Yeah'

'Until just before we met you?'

'Yeah. Was dark and I hid behind tree and sleep'

Red glanced at Liz, thoughts flowing between them without words. The kid had been out all night. No wonder he was so hungry and thirsty. It was a miracle he wasn't colder than he seemed to be but he did have jeans and a decent sweatshirt on. However, it did mean that his parents could be a long way away by now. Presumably they would have been out all night looking for him.

'Okay, young man', Red said as he got to his feet, 'I have a proposal for you'

'Red…..' Liz said, frowning amusedly at him.

'What?'

But then Red realised, 'Ah, yes. I have an idea'

Zach had been looking at him blankly but now that he understood he nodded.

'Would you like to ride in our car and we'll drive back down this road and see if we can find your parents?'

Zach nodded eagerly and grinned at them. Without waiting for further instruction he had grabbed Liz's hand and was pulling her to the passenger door. She got in and lifted him up onto her lap. Red watched them, loving how good she was with the boy and how quickly and completely he had trusted her. Heading back to the driver's side, he got in and started the engine.

Liz and Red both did up their seatbelts and Liz wrapped her arms around Zach, holding him tightly to her. Red pulled away, going only about ten miles per hour. They crawled up the road, all three of them staring into the trees at either side and checking carefully for any sign of people or anything that might indicate where the boy's parents were.

However, soon Zach seemed more interested in looking through the contents of the glove box, peering closely at the cd cases and finding some jerky that Red had left open in there. He pulled some out and started chewing it. Red had to smile as he watched him. With his baby teeth, he would probably be chewing that one piece of jerky for about ten minutes.

As they got to about the half mile point from where they'd started out, they rounded a bend and saw something up ahead that Red and Liz both saw before Zach, still more interested in his treasure trove of knick-knacks and jerky. Red pulled the car to the side of the road, stopping so that the passenger side view was obscured by the low lying branches of a tree. Zach looked up as they stopped but just continued chewing, unable to see what had caused Red to stop. Red got out the car, nodding at Liz with silent meaning, and walked up the road by himself.

As he approached the crashed car, its hood bent hugely out of shape around the trunk of a massive tree, his heart started to sink. He could see someone in the driver's side and the amount of blood on the windshield was almost a giveaway as to the condition that person would be in. Drawing closer, he reached down and pulled the door open. The man behind the wheel slumped slowly out onto the road. He was clearly dead, his skull almost completely caved in from where he had been thrown into the windshield. His belt wasn't done up so Red guessed he had died instantly from the crash. With some effort, he lifted the dead man back into the vehicle. He was in rigour mortis so it wasn't easy but he didn't want Zach to see him should they have to pass this way at some point.

Making his way around to the empty passenger side, he noted the door was open slightly. As if someone had gotten out and let it fall till it was almost shut. There was blood on the seat here that looked as though it had come from that seat's occupant, rather than spread across from the driver's side. Glancing into the back seat, Red saw a booster seat and a teddy bear. He reached back and grabbed the bear before closing the passenger door and staring out into the woods.

As he got back to their car, Liz could tell from the look on his face that it wasn't good news. A very small shake of his head confirmed this and then he got back in next to them.

'Hey Zach, guess what?'

Zach looked up inquisitively and Red looked at him with such sorrow in his heart, he feared the boy would notice. His whole world had just been turned upside down for the second time in under a year. He felt such compassion for the boy, he just wanted to make it all better for him but he knew there was no way he could do that.

'I found your bear'

Zach reached out and gratefully took the small toy from Red, clasping it to his chest. Liz smiled and cuddled Zach a little closer, 'What's his name?'

'Furry'

Liz grinned at him, 'Well that definitely suits him. He is very furry indeed'

Zach smiled and cuddled the bear some more, resting his head on Liz's shoulder.

'So… Red?'

'Driver d.o.a. Passenger vacated the vehicle, unknown whereabouts'

Liz closed her eyes, hugging Zach just a little tighter again. 'Who's who?'

'It's the f.a.t.h.e.r. who is d.o.a.'

'The m.o.t.h.e.r.?'

'Some lacerations I imagine but okay enough to have gotten sufficiently far away not to be obvious'

Zach looked at them, from one to the other, as they spoke. He clearly had no idea what was being said but at least he didn't look too worried about it, just mildly interested.

'What shall we do?'

'I suggest we get the car off the road, hide it. Then mount a search for the M.I.A'

Liz nodded at him and turned to Zach, 'Hey little man, we're gonna park the car for a bit and then take a walk through the woods to see if we can find your Mummy. How does that sound?'

Zach nodded eagerly and grinned at her, 'Can Furry come too?'

'Oh absolutely', replied Red as he reached down to tickle Furry's belly, 'I've heard bears are really good at finding people lost in the woods'

He started the car up again and did a u-turn. There had been an area not far back where he thought he could park it up and cover it with some branches. Looking over at Liz as he drove slowly back the way they had come, they shared a moment of silent grief, knowing that this little boy's life was now their responsibility and that the next few hours, days, weeks or maybe longer were going to be a whole new challenge for them both.


	18. Chapter 18

Over the course of about two hours the trio covered a huge area of the forest, keeping this first part of their search to the side of the car the passenger would've had gotten out into. If they hadn't found them after two hours they intended to move their search to the other side. For most of the time Red carried Zach in a piggyback and Liz walked with her gun drawn. Zach was excited at first but then grew frustrated as they failed to find his mother. Just as it seemed he was about to start having a meltdown, they decided to stop and have a rest.

Red placed the child at the foot of a tree and straightened up, groaning loudly as his back told him it was deeply unhappy with his weight bearing endeavours. Grimacing, he managed to sit down next to the boy and sighed as he leant back against the tree next to him. Liz took her rucksack off her back and crouched down facing the two of them. She handed Zach some water and a can of peaches she'd taken from the car for him. He took them silently, still not overly happy, but soon set about fishing the peach slices from the syrup and sucking them greedily.

'Well, that wasn't very productive', Red said as he rubbed his temple, a headache of some proportion having formed during their walk.

'No, not really. But at least we know she probably went over the other side of the road'

'Or she could've gone along the road for a while and then gone into the trees'

'Yes, true….. But we can't give up. She must've exited the car after Zach had gotten out and run off. Otherwise she wouldn't have left him. Which way would she guess was most likely that he would have gone?'

'I would guess nine out of ten kids would head into the woods. So you're probably right. We'll start on the other side as soon as I get some energy back'

Red leaned over Zach and reached into the can, scooping out a peach slice. Zach looked up at him, his mouth open in shock and Red popped the slice into his own mouth. He then winked at the boy and produced a chocolate bar from his pocket.

'I thought I'd swap this for a peach slice. That okay?'

The look of shock on Zach's face disappeared immediately and he took the chocolate bar from Red, grinning widely.

'Yeah, that's okay. I LOVE chocolate'

Red and Liz both laughed at the loud and adamant way he declared this. It seemed that the boy was feeling better now that they were resting and he was refuelling.

Nobody said anything else for a few minutes, all of them just enjoying the few snacks they had and the water. Eventually Zach stood up and walked off with some determination in the direction of a huge tree about 20ft from them.

'Zach, honey, where you going?', Liz called out as she got to her feet.

'Need to go pee-pee'

'Do you want me or Red to come with you?'

Zach turned and gave Liz a perfect disparaging look before declaring, 'I'm a big boy, I know how to pee-pee'. He then rolled his eyes and turned away, continuing on his mission.

Red managed not to laugh until the boy was behind the tree but couldn't hold it in any longer, 'Well, that's you told, Lizzy. Zach knows how to pee-pee'.

Liz scowled at Red and sat back down next to him, 'Very funny. You're lucky I don't have the energy to punch you on the arm'.

Red smiled at her and leant over, kissing her temple gently and stroking her cheek, 'I'll let you do it later if you'd like, once we're less tired. Can't deny you one of your favourite activities now, can I?'

'That's very kind of you', Liz replied as she laid her head down on his shoulder. However, their brief moment of peace was brought to an abrupt halt as Zach came running back from behind the tree, eager to show them something.

'Look, look!'

As they boy got nearer, they could see he had what looked like blood on his hand. They both jumped to their feet and Liz picked him up so that Red could examine his wound.

'It's not his'

'What?'

'Zach, where did you find this?'

He pointed back at the tree, 'Where I pee-pee'

Red took a bottle of water from the bag and wet the boy's hand, using his own sleeve to clean it. He then smiled at him reassuringly before nodding at Liz. She stayed there with the boy, holding him tight as Red walked over to the tree, drawing his weapon. As he reached the far side, he stopped and turned, ready for anything. But it was as he expected. There was a small puddle of blood in a hollow at the base of the tree, nothing more than that. It had mostly congealed so had been there a while but obviously Zach had managed to get some stuck on him when he had put his hand in it. Glancing around the tree he saw a couple of drops heading away in a southerly direction and so he went back to Liz, picked up the bag and motioned for her to follow him.

Now that they had some sort of a trail to follow, they both had hope they would soon find the boy's mother. They just hoped they weren't too late. Increasing their pace, they followed the odd drop of blood and snapped branch or footprint in the mud for nearly ten minutes before Red spied a foot coming out from under a bush not far ahead. He spun towards his companions and turned Liz away so that Zach wouldn't see it.

'You two wait here for a moment. Now it's time for Red to go pee-pee'

Under any other circumstances Liz would've laughed but she was too terrified to imagine what they might be about to discover. Distracting Zach by continuing to wash his hand clean, she made sure he couldn't see what Red was doing as he approached the body in the bushes.

'Liz, she's alive'

Liz didn't know whether to leave Zach there or take him with her but decided that the boy had a right to see his mother. He would never see his father again after all. And hopefully the mum was going to be okay. She strode over to where Red was and waited.

He carefully pulled the woman out of the bush, being cautious with her arm as it looked broken. She had a terrible head wound, there was blood all over her face and her top was soaked through but it looked as thought it had stopped bleeding now. Red felt again for her pulse and put his head to her chest, checking her breathing.

'She's unconscious but her pulse is quite strong and her breathing is normal'

Zach was crying as he looked down at his mummy lying there so Liz put him down slowly and kept a hold of his hand, 'You can touch her Zach, but be very gentle'.

At first it appeared that the boy didn't want to touch her but suddenly he fell to his knees and lay his head on her tummy, his little hands grabbing at her clothing. Liz felt tears bursting from her eyes and had to look away for a moment to compose herself.

'Okay, Zach, let me have another look at your mummy', Red said as he leant forward and started to use some more of the water to clean her face, especially all the crusted blood around her eyes, nose and mouth. Within a minute or two she was looking far better just from the absence of blood and this seemed to cheer Zach up a little too.

'Will Mummy be okay?', he asked as he stared up at Red with big, watery eyes.

'I truly hope so. But I think we should take her back to the car now, don't you?'

Ordinarily moving an unconscious body when you have no idea of what internal injuries there may be would not be something Red or Liz would do readily. But they had no choice. There were no paramedics coming and so they just had to pray that she didn't have a spinal injury they were going to worsen by moving her. Red was most worried about her state of consciousness and the wound to her skull so he lifted her gently into his arms and beckoned for Liz to carry both the boy and the rucksack. It was going to be an exhausting walk back to the car but Red found the energy to do it by looking at Zach's heartbroken face. If there was anything in his power he could do to save this woman's life, Red was going to use it.

Once back at the car, Red carefully laid her out on the backseat, using a rolled up sweater as a pillow. He then took one of his own jackets and placed it over her. If she didn't wake up soon, he had no idea what they were going to do with her. It was a long way back to the farm and he couldn't think where else they could take her for help. The woman needed fluids desperately. An x-ray or an MRI was never going to be viable but he was sure they could find a way to get fluids into her if they could find even the most rudimentary of medical centres.

Once they were all back in the car, he pulled out onto the road and continued on towards the direction they had originally been headed in. There was nothing behind them, that they knew, so going forwards was their best hope.

Zach was sitting in Liz's lap, facing backwards. He wasn't taking his eyes off his mother and was quietly crying and sniffling despite Liz's best efforts to comfort him. She hated feeling this damn helpless. Glancing over at Red she could see the same despair in his face, his left cheek twitching endlessly, his jaw set like iron.

After about two miles they both heard a small cough from the back seat and Zach suddenly cried out, 'Mummy! Mummy's awake!'

Without even looking back, Red pulled to the side of the road and jumped out, opening the back door and bending down over the woman. He wasn't surprised to see terror in her eyes as he loomed over her but he smiled his gentlest smile and took a hold of one of her hands.

'Hello. Please don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. You're quite safe'.

This did nothing to allay the woman's fears and it was only when she registered the presence of her son peering back at her from the front seat did her expression change at all.

'Zach…..'

'Mummy!'

'Your son's perfectly fine. We've been looking after him and trying to find you. Do you remember what happened?'

She shook her head at Red but this movement caused her to wince with pain and she had to rest her head back down on her sweater pillow.

'Well, I don't blame you. You were in a car wreck. We found Zach wandering on his own and then found your car. Took us quite a while to find you though, I'm afraid. You'd also gone out for a wander'. Red smiled at her, hoping his words were starting to have some kind of a calming effect. She looked at him intently and then just said one word.

'Simon?'

Red shook his head, his eyes sad and the woman knew what he meant instantly. But she was determined not to break down in front of her boy.

'And what is your name?'

'I'm Patsy'

'Happy to meet you, Patsy. I'm Red and this is Liz. Now shall we get you sitting up and drinking some water?'

Five minutes later, Zach was in the backseat attached to his mother's side, quietly just holding her. Red and Liz were in the front, trying to ascertain where the woman had come from and if there was somewhere they could take her nearby with medical facilities. At first she had seemed vague but Liz soon saw that she wasn't telling the whole truth. Red had suspected it too but was willing to give Patsy longer to trust them.

'Patsy, I'm not sure you're telling us what we need to know. And I don't blame you, we're total strangers. Right now, the way the world is, we could be anything and we could want anything from you. But you've got to ask yourself; if we wanted your boy we'd have taken him and gone. If we wanted to hurt you or steal from you, we could have done so already. We want to help you. And your son. If you know of somewhere near here we can take you then please tell us. You need that arm to be set properly and you may need further medical assistance which we just can't provide'

At last, Patsy's resistance broke down. She realised that she really had no option but to trust these people. Pointing up the road she said, 'About a mile further up on the left is a dirt trail. There's a fallen tree blocking it but if you swing to the left of the log you can drive around no problem. That's where we live'.

'Thank you, Patsy. Now we'll get you home and get you sorted as best we can'

Patsy laid her head back onto the top of her seat, her energy spent. She remained conscious but had obviously worn herself out just by being awake for a short while. Red gunned the engine and they drove on, soon approaching the dirt trail she had described. Pulling the car off the road, Red managed to manoeuvre it around the fallen log and continued down the narrow track. At last, they came out into a clearing, with a large house in the centre of it. Red pulled the car up outside the front door. However, before he could even think about opening his own door to get out, two men with shotguns appeared and levelled them at his head.

'Hands on the wheel. Do not move at all other than that or your brain's gonna paint that pretty lady next to you'

'Oh, Patsy. I do wish you'd mentioned your friends before you dropped off again', Red murmured as he obeyed the men's commands and surrendered.


	19. Chapter 19

Red and Liz sat shackled to a radiator in a small room off the kitchen. They had willingly let themselves be detained like this as they knew that the people there had no real reason to trust them, despite them bringing Patsy and Zach back to them. Zach was so overwhelmed to be back amongst these people and at the state of his mother that he wasn't making much sense either so they didn't even have anyone to corroborate their story. At least until Patsy woke up again. If she did.

Red sighed and took a drink from the water bottle they'd been left. Even though they had been secured in here, they each had one arm free, their captors seemingly stuck in two minds whether or not to treat them as hostile. Red was grateful at least this small courtesy had been accorded. Liz was fidgety next to him, anxious to be able to tell the people what had happened properly and to see how Zach was doing. However, they could hear voices in the kitchen endlessly debating and knew that their hosts were certainly not in agreement as to what to do with them.

After what felt like nearly half an hour, the door opened and a man walked in, pulling up a chair to sit in front of them. He was carrying a handgun and let it rest in his lap as he sat down.

'So, how you folks doing?'

'We're fine. How are Patsy and Zach?', Liz answered, her concern coming across as genuine to the man immediately.

'Zach's fallen asleep at last. Poor little fella is completely exhausted. Patsy hasn't woken up yet'.

The man left that hanging, a small hint of accusation in the air between them. Red's cheek flinched slightly. He wanted Patsy to wake up so that she could tell these people what had really happened. But he also desperately wanted her to wake up so that that poor boy wasn't going to be orphaned.

'So, you wanna tell me what happened to Simon?', the man asked, staring straight at Red.

'I'm afraid Simon is dead. He perished in the car crash which also injured Patsy. When I found him this morning he had been dead quite some time so I suspect he died on impact, judging by his head injuries'

Red left it like this, factual and without emotion. He didn't want to appear to be convincing the man of his innocence and lack of ill intentions. He just wanted to get the details across straight and to the point. The man would be on the look out for lies or for attempts at them playing him so he kept it simple.

'Damn….. Simon was a good guy'

The silence sat between them then for a short while as the man pondered how next to continue his interrogation. Eventually, he looked at Liz and asked,

'So, how is it that you're spending time with Raymond Reddington, Ma'am?'

Liz's mouth fell open; that was about the last thing she'd expected someone to ask. Red merely blinked slowly and said nothing. He knew it was possible, if not indeed likely, that someone would eventually recognise him. The world may have ended but there were plenty of people who would remember his face.

'We worked together….'

'You a criminal too?'

'No. I'm an FBI Agent'

At this, the man's eyebrows shot up and a smile danced across his mouth.

'You wanna run that past me again?'

'I work… Worked for a special FBI task force. Reddington here was our informant. It's been going for a couple of years now. Very, very few people knew he was in custody…'

Red snorted at the use of the word 'custody' and Liz shot him a glare.

'…but he's been helping us catch criminals all around the world. I know it seems crazy but it's the truth. And I no longer have my badge or anything so I can't prove it to you but that's all there is to it really'.

The man sat back in his chair, sizing up what she had said. He could well believe such a thing may be true but it just seemed so outlandish.

'Well, just so as you both know, I'm a cop. So that's how I recognised the Concierge here. And I can't say I'm too happy about having him in my home. Especially when he turns up telling us that Simon is dead and with Patsy in the state she's in'.

'We have nothing to do with what happened to them. We only tried to help once we found Zach and then the car'.

The man sat there for a while longer, trying to size up each of them. Red stayed quiet, despite his instinct to do otherwise. He knew that if this guy was a cop, he wouldn't want to hear him say anything unless he'd asked him first. Silence, right now, seemed the wiser option.

'Okay then. Well, I'm going to get you two some chow and then we'll see how it goes when Patsy wakes up. I'm sorry to be all suspicious but this was odd enough anyway without number four on the Feebs' most wanted list being part of it. I know that you understand'.

He didn't wait for a reply and walked out, closing the door behind him.

At last Red spoke, 'Well, that is a very unfortunate turn of events'

'You think? Do you think he believed me?'

'In all honesty, I think he did. If it were a lie it would be such a daring and ridiculous one that he'd never believe we'd make it up. And you didn't hesitate when you were asked. Nobody could make up something like that on the spot. Well, I probably could but I'm a notorious liar', he finished with a wink to Liz.

'God, I hope so. Like this day could get any worse…..'

The door opened again and the man came in with two bowls of what looked like vegetable broth. He left them on the floor next to them with two spoons.

'I'm Hank by the way. Formerly Sheriff round these parts. You'll get introduced to everybody else once we know we can trust you. Zach seems eager to come in and see you but he's not going to be allowed just yet. But that's a good sign for you, he's normally very shy around strangers so you guys musta done right by him. Anyways, eat your broth, we'll talk later'.

Once they were left alone they consumed their food in record time, each having not realised just how starving they had been until the smell had hit them. After that there was nothing much else to do so Liz shuffled closer to Red and rested her head on his shoulder, eventually falling asleep on him. He turned his face into her hair and kissed her gently, breathing in her scent. He could take whatever these people were willing to do with him as long as they didn't harm his girl. Closing his eyes himself, he started planning for the worst should it come to that.

When Liz opened her eyes again it was getting dark. Red had fallen asleep with his head on hers and she had to wake him up in order to be able to move herself upright.

'Sorry, didn't want to wake you but my neck has stiffened up'

'No need to apologise….. I had no intention of falling asleep anyway. Guess we were both a lot more tired than we realised'

As they were both slowly coming back to consciousness, the door opened and Hank walked in, the gun still in his hand.

'Okay, Patsy has woken up and she's asked to see you both. So we're gonna take a little walk. Just remember I'm armed and so are all the people out there so no funny business'

'I can assure you Hank, we mean neither you nor your friends any harm. In fact, we owe you a debt of gratitude for taking us in and looking after us at all, given the circumstances'

Red's words seemed to relax Hank a little but he still kept his gun trained on him after he'd thrown the handcuff key to Red to release himself and Liz. Once free, they stood up and were ushered out the door through into the kitchen.

'Just keep on walking, Patsy's in the room beyond the stove there'

They walked into a room that had three beds in it, Patsy was lying on the furthest one, Zach sitting next to her. He was chattering away to her nineteen to the dozen, obviously ecstatic that she was awake again.

Patsy looked up and saw them and smiled weakly. She still looked pale and in pain but there was more focus to her stare now, hopefully the worst of the concussion had passed.

'Hey…'

Zach looked up when she spoke and then he too saw Red and Liz. Springing off the bed, he ran to them and wrapped his arms around them, one arm around each of their legs. Red couldn't help but laugh and Liz crouched down to hug him properly. Hank had tried to get between Zach and them but he hadn't managed before the boy had gotten there. He and Red stared into each other's eyes as Liz hugged Zach, unaware of the tension passing above her. Red simply smiled at Hank and backed away from the boy, resting against the wall behind him.

'I missed you!'

'I missed you too, Zach. How are you feeling now?'

'I'm okay. And my mummy is okay too. Mr Fredericks put a stick on her arm and her arm made a funny noise but now she says it doesn't hurt as much'

Liz grimaced as she realised that Patsy's broken arm was worse than they'd known. Having it reset without any kind of anaesthetic must have been agony. She stood up from hugging Zach and walked over to the bed, smiling down at Patsy.

'You look a lot better. Do you feel better?'

'Yeah, I do. Everything hurts and I can't really concentrate on much but a lot better than I did before. Thanks to Hank and everyone here. But also thanks to you and Red. You saved my life'.

Red slowly approached the foot of the bed, keeping close to the wall even as he did so. Hank hadn't taken his eyes off him the whole time and he didn't want to push his luck.

'I'm very glad to hear it, Patsy. You had us worried there. It would have been good if you could have kept awake just a few minutes longer earlier though', Red finished with a cheeky smile.

'I know, I'm sorry…. I would have told you about everyone here if I'd known I was going to pass out again. I really wasn't thinking straight. But I've told them as much as I can remember now and it's going to be okay'

Red glanced at Hank. Oh, no, I'm not sure it is, he thought to himself. But no need to broach that topic right now.

'Well, I'm just grateful these nice people took us in and fed and watered us. We'll let you get some more rest now, you've got a lot of healing to do'.

Leaving the room, Red and Liz walked slowly through the kitchen, unsure as to what was going to happen. Red turned to Hank and decided to just go for it.

'So, as Patsy is now awake and has told you we're not dangerous people or that we want to rob you or whatever, I think Liz and I will be on our way. We need to get somewhere today, time is of the essence'.

Hank's eyebrows raised at Red's confident declaration, something bristling inside him at his assumption. Red saw this and immediately knew he'd taken the wrong tack. Inwardly cursing, he prepared for the worst. And then it came.

'Oh, you're going nowhere, Mr Reddington. You're a traitor and a fugitive and I'm a man of the law'.


	20. Chapter 20

Red and Liz found themselves back in the room they had been contained in before. The only difference this time being that they had both hands shackled to the radiator. Neither of them was happy and yet neither of them was annoyed at their treatment particularly either. Red had been through this countless times with fellow criminals and with law enforcement. Liz knew that as a friend of a very dangerous and widely-believed traitor she was also fair game, even with her tales of her being an FBI Agent and him being a informant. They just hoped that there was some way out of this that didn't result in Red's permanent imprisonment or worse.

'So, Lizzy, fancy a game of I Spy?'

Liz rolled her eyes despite the fact she knew Red wasn't looking at her. She knew he'd know that she'd done it. She kicked the floor with frustration and turned to him,

'Red, we need to get out of this. Not just because it's ridiculous that we're being held here when the world has pretty much ended and heinous crimes are going on all day everyday, but because we need to leave that message for Dembe. What if he gets the message at the cabin and goes to the safe house and then there's nothing there? Will he come back again and again forever? We can't assume that'.

'I know, sweetheart. But right now, I'm not sure what we can do. Other than trying to overcome our captors with violence I don't know what to do. And I'm certainly not going to do that. These people don't deserve it'.

Liz nodded and sat back to think some more on what they could do, her brow furrowing as she pondered. Before too long the sound of raised voices reached them through the door. They could make out a few words here and there and it was obvious that the cause of the argument was their presence there. Red's jaw was working overtime as he started to worry about how he could protect Liz should it come to it. After another ten minutes of animated debate, the door opened and Hank strode in.

'Okay, Keen, you're gonna come with me for a while. We need to have a more in depth chat about you and your 'friend' here'.

As Hank reached down to undo Liz's handcuffs, Red considered kicking out his legs from under him but knew it would be futile ultimately. And it would most definitely scupper any hopes they may have of being allowed to go free peacefully. Hank led Liz out of the room and closed the door. Red rested his head back against the wall and sighed. He didn't regret playing the role of the Good Samaritan with Zach even one iota but if it meant harm came to Liz, he wasn't sure how he would live with himself.

Red was deep into thoughts of his sixth plan of action for escape when the door opened again and Liz came back in. She had been gone nearly three hours but he was beyond relieved to see she looked okay. In fact, she smiled at him as she came in.

Hank walked straight up to him and undid his cuffs, even offering him a hand to help him to his feet. Red gaped at him, unsure what to make of this turn in proceedings.

'Well, Agent Keen here has convinced me that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing letting you both go. She's told me of some of the bad guys you've helped her catch over the last coupla years. And that, whilst you can maybe go a bit far yourself in terms of how you deal with these people, that you have a moral compass she trusts. I didn't think it would ever happen but I'm actually now thinking letting you go would probably be a good thing for the world. Especially in the shape it's in now'.

Red continued to stare at Hank, blinking in disbelief. What on earth had Liz said to him to bring about this volte-face?

'He even grilled me on radio codes and the boring minutiae of law enforcement to make sure I really am an FBI Agent', Liz said as she grinned at Red.

Hank laughed sheepishly, 'Yeah, she remembers all that stuff better than I ever knew it I think. So I believe her. And I'm gonna take her word on what she says about you too. Just glad my bosses aren't around to see me doing this'.

Red held out his hand to Hank and, after only the tiniest bit of hesitation, Hank took it and shook.

'Thank you Hank. I know that this can't have been easy for you. But I assure you I don't eat babies or burn down nunneries. All I want to do is survive, same as anyone else, but I won't hurt anyone innocent or undeserving in order to do so'.

Hank nodded, although his mouth had twitched at Red's imagery, 'Glad to hear it. Truth be known, if half of what Liz said is true, you guys are needed out there. There are lot of simple and kind folk who are being hurt and taken advantage of. I guess you're kinda like Batman and Robin now, eh?'

Red laughed and turned to Liz, 'Can I call you Robin from now on?'

'Only if you want me to ignore everything you say'

Hank laughed at them both and led them out the room. He set about gathering their belongings for them and they went into the bedroom to bade farewell to Patsy and Zach. Zach clung to them both as they hugged him goodbye and he couldn't hold back the tears he had coming.

'I'm going to miss you'

'And we shall miss you too, young man. However, we should pass this way again on our return from our current trip so maybe we'll come in and see you?'

'Yes! Please do, I want to see you again soon'

Red stood, ruffling Zach's hair as he turned towards the door. Hank was there, with a bag of fresh fruit for them to take.

'Here you go. I know you've got some decent supplies in your car but I thought you might want something to ward off the scurvy'

Liz took the bag and thanked Hank, who opened the front door and led them out.

'Say, where exactly should I go to retrieve Simon's body? I should do that now, don't want him lying there too long, it's not right'

Red gave him directions and they shook hands again. Hank said they were welcome to pop in on their way back from Charleston and they both promised they would do so, hopefully bringing them something useful with them when they did.

The car pulled out onto the road and Red turned towards their original destination, aware that they should probably not drive for more than a couple of hours before finding somewhere to sleep for the night. Turning to Liz, he looked at her with amused curiosity. After a few seconds, she felt his eyes on her and turned, raising her eyebrow knowingly.

'You gonna ask me or shall I just assume you're looking at me for another reason?'

Red's eyes narrowed as he gazed back at her, 'Well, I am a little baffled by what on earth you said to Hank to make him change his mind…'

'I told him the truth'

'All of it?!'

'The edited highlights. You didn't kill quite as many people in this version. Hardly anyone in fact'.

Red laughed and concentrated back on the road. 'I see…. Well, maybe you should fill me in a little more than that. Just in case I manage to contradict you should we happen upon him again'.

So for the next two hours, Liz repeated everything she'd just said to the Sheriff. Red listened, agog. Just when he thought his eyes couldn't get any wider, they did so. Liz had certainly given him the PG version of their time together.

'So, what you're saying is now he basically thinks I'm a saint, I walk on water, heal the sick and cuddle puppies in my spare time?'

'Something like that'

'Oh my… No wonder he wanted me out and about again. Living with someone like that would be quite nauseating'

Liz laughed and reached over to squeeze Red's hand, 'It would. I prefer the real you. But I don't think he would've. Anyway, that's what you need to remember next time'.

'Well, I would be happy to see them on the way back. We should see if we can find some medical supplies for them as with that many people they're going to need something more than a bandaid and saltwater before too long'.

'Careful, Red, you're starting to sound like that guy…..'

'Cheeky so and so….. Anyway, I propose we find somewhere to stop. It'll be dark soon and I want to scope out any potential campsite before we can't see too far'

The next track they came across, they took. They lucked out as rather than leading to any buildings they'd have to spend ages scouring for danger, it just came to a stop at a picnic site next to a trail leading to a nearby waterfall. Red parked the car as deep into the undergrowth as he could and left it pointing towards the track. They fetched the tent and other supplies from the trunk and set about putting them up far into the trees so that you would have to be no further than about fifteen metres from them as to see them.

Once they had achieved this they sat in their small tent, the only illumination coming from a small camping light they'd brought. They were starving yet again and demolished a lot of the fruit they'd been given, knowing they should eat the perishables first. Sated, they sat back against the rolls of sleeping bags and pillows, Liz cuddling up on Red's chest and gripping him tightly around the waist. She wouldn't admit to him how scared she'd been back at the house, she didn't even want to admit it to herself. She had pictured a brief 'trial' and Red being executed out the back of the house with nothing she could do about it. Thinking again about it now, she shivered.

Red held her closer, aware it wasn't the cold making her shiver but unwilling to push her for an explanation. Just holding her was making him feel calmer and he hoped it had the same effect on her.

'I still can't believe Hank was so amenable. Even allowing for the, ahem, small embellishment of my actions, he backed down very quickly'

'I'm not sure he was ever wedded to the idea of keeping you prisoner or….. Or worse. He's just feeling helpless, as we all are now, and wanted to bring back a feeling of control and purpose to his life. I think he was posturing a little when he stopped us from leaving like that, he didn't really know what he wanted to do with us'

'Hmm, you could be right. But either way I am very glad that your silver tongue got us out of that scrape my dear'

Liz lifted her head and peeked up at Red, her eyes gazing adoringly into his.

'Do you want to see what else this silver tongue can do?'

Before Red could reply, Liz's mouth was on his and she was kissing him hungrily. As ever, he let her set the pace, quite happy just to enjoy this moment. Their kiss continued for some time before Liz pulled back and looked at him again.

'And I have an excellent idea'

'Yes?'

'You saw the sign for the waterfall, right?'

'I did'

'Early morning dip?'

'Oh, Elizabeth, you really are on a roll today, aren't you?'

And he leant back down to kiss her again. He felt that he could kiss her all night long and not get even slightly bored. Maybe he would give it a try…


	21. Chapter 21

Red felt himself slowly emerging from a blessedly long and restful sleep and rolled onto his side, his arm snaking out to find Liz. By the time he'd reached as far as the side of the tent and not located her, he was wide awake and sitting up, the sleepiness falling from him instantaneously.

Scrambling to his feet he nearly fell out of the tent in his eagerness to find where Liz was. As soon as he was outside he saw her though, sitting by a small pond at the edge of the parking area, throwing stones into the water and eating an apple. She sensed the movement and looked over at him and waved. Red took a deep breath and waved back. She hadn't gone far, he had totally overreacted. He wasn't sure he wanted her to know just how scared he'd just been and so he attempted a nonchalant walk over to her.

'Morning, sleepyhead'

'Good morning my dear. You been up long?'

'Maybe an hour? Nice boxers'.

Red glanced down. Ah, yes, he hadn't gotten even slightly dressed. That was probably a bit of a giveaway. Pausing in his approach to Liz, he debated whether to play it cool or just be sensible and go and at least get some pants on. By the time he'd pondered this, Liz was in front of him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. But I was wide awake and kinda bored. So I thought I'd enjoy the peace and quiet out here'

'Surely it was peaceful and quiet in the tent?'

'Not so much last night. I think there may have been a wild boar or something sleeping just outside the tent. On your side'.

Red almost felt himself blushing and scowled at Liz, who was gleefully grinning up at him, 'I see. Well, I'm just glad it didn't attack you when you came out'.

'Oh, I think I scared it away. Anyway, do you still want to go have a swim? I feel really filthy, it would be great to wash off the last day or so'.

The scowl long gone, Red turned back to the tent and went inside to fetch his clothes and the one towel they had brought with them, 'I cannot think of anything I'd rather do right now. Well, other than eat something…'. He grabbed an apple of his own from the bag Hank gave them and came back out of the tent, quickly throwing on some clothes and shoes. Liz stooped in briefly to pick up a couple of weapons for them and then they set off down the trail to the waterfall, hand in hand.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning and whilst that fact hadn't been quite as obvious when they were in the trees, once they came out at the waterfall and natural pool there, it took their breath away when they saw the view. The waterfall wasn't huge, probably only about fifty feet high but the scenery all around it was untouched by man. The trees and flora, the water in the pool so clear you could see all the way to the bottom.

'Oh my…. This is perfect'

Red nodded in agreement and led the way down the rest of the path until they were at the edge of the water, 'It absolutely is. However, I'll warrant it's rather cold in there….'

'Not gonna chicken out I hope?'

Red raised an eyebrow at Liz and started disrobing. Smiling back at him, she did likewise. When they were both down to just their underwear they held hands and stood at the edge of the water on a small outcrop.

'Okay, here goes nothing. Geronimo!'

They jumped in simultaneously and both came up gasping for breath at the same time.

'Oh my god….. Yeah, that's cold all right. I'm gonna swim for a bit before I go into shock', Liz said as she laughed and splashed away.

Red was almost tempted just to get straight back out. It was formidably cold and he could imagine it taking some days before he could feel any sensation in his nether regions again. But he wasn't going to leave Liz on her own in here. Pushing himself off from the edge, he quickly swam after her, hoping her idea of movement would help him warm up.

Despite their best efforts to ignore the icy temperature they only lasted about ten minutes in the water. It had served its purpose though and they each felt cleansed and refreshed. Hauling themselves out back where they'd left their clothes, Red picked up the towel and dried Liz's hair for her as best he could. They then huddled down together under the towel and wrapped themselves around each other.

'Okay…. That was nice'

'Once more with feeling, Lizzy'

Liz laughed and hugged Red even tighter, 'It was nice. But it could've been nicer, let's just say'

Once they'd managed to stop shaking with the cold they pulled their clothes back on and walked back up to the car and tent. Quickly changing their underwear, which was still wet, they put on as much clothing as feasibly possible and packed the tent away, putting everything back in the car.

'Right, well, let's get this show back on the road. We could probably make it to Charleston today if we don't encounter any more problems'

Red drove the car back down the track and out onto the main road. Liz was sitting and staring at the map, trying to anticipate where they might come across any trouble. It was, of course, a fool's errand to try to predict such things but she felt better knowing exactly what kind of environments they would be traveling through. The built up areas were best avoided and, if they had to go through any, she wanted to be prepared and aware of the layout.

'We need to cross a bridge quite soon. It's near a small town. That would be a good ambush point'

Red frowned, not taking his eyes off the road, 'That's true…. But I don't think it's likely, Lizzy'

'I know. I just…. I just wanted to point it out'.

He reached his hand over and took a hold of one of hers, 'Don't worry, sweetheart, we can stop and scope it out if you like. I guess avoiding the bridge is a no-go?'

'Yeah, we'd have to divert something like fifty miles to find another route over the river. And it'd still be a bridge…. So, you're right, we'll just see how this one looks'.

As they drew nearer, Red could sense Liz getting more and more tense. This was an unexpected setback. Somehow she had gotten it in her head that trouble was about to find them. He needed to help her overcome this. Glancing down at the map, he surmised they were probably only a mile from the bridge now and pulled the car to the side of the road.

'Right, let's hide the car and carry on on foot. We can take the binoculars and the sniper rifle. Have a really good look at what's there before we decide to carry on'.

Liz smiled at him, embarrassed to be causing such an unnecessary delay but eternally grateful that Red was taking such care as to try to nullify her concerns. Some people would just have rolled their eyes and ploughed on regardless. But Red would never disregard her feelings like that. She felt a few tears welling up in her eyes and squeezed his hand in thanks. He nodded back at her and winked, making her laugh. He always knew exactly the right thing to say or do.

It didn't take them long to get the car camouflaged in the bushes at the side of the road and they set out on foot, walking parallel to the road about fifteen metres into the trees. It was slow going as there was no path but it only took them about half an hour to cover the mile. They could see the light up ahead where the trees took a brief pause before resuming on the other side of the river. Slowing down their advance, they crouched down and made their way as close to the edge of the natural cover as they could. Liz found a spot next to a large oak tree that was perfect and they set up the sniper rifle on its stand and started to survey the other bank and the bridge itself.

'Elizabeth, whilst I, in no way, regret coming out here to do this….. Please tell me you brought some food?'

Liz snorted and reached into her pocket, 'I wondered how long it would take you to ask'.

She produced a Mars Bar and an orange for him and he leant over and gave her a huge kiss on her cheek, replete with a redundant yet humorous smacking noise.

'You look after me so well'

She smiled at him. He was the one looking after her needs right now and yet she was pleased to have made him so happy too. She watched him devour the orange in under a minute and then immediately start on the chocolate.

'You did bring something for yourself I trust?' There was fear in his eyes that he'd have to share his chocolate bar with her and Liz couldn't resist it. She shook her head and watched as his face fell. However, he held out the bar to her and put it in her hand, 'Never mind. The orange was delicious. And I'm in no danger of wasting away'.

'Red, of course I did. I was just teasing', she said as she pulled out her own Mars Bar from a different pocket.

Relief lit up Red's face and he almost laughed, before remembering they were supposed to be on a covert surveillance mission. He retrieved his chocolate from Liz's hand and took an enormous bite.

'If I wasn't so grateful for this, then I'd be annoyed'

'No, you wouldn't'

Glancing over at her and seeing the love so apparent on her face he grinned back and leant over to kiss her, 'No, you're right. I wouldn't. I don't think I could ever stay angry with you. Even if it was for a real reason, not just a truly devious act of chocolate teasing'.

Liz was about to reply to him when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Quickly bending down to look through the rifle's scope, she trained it on where she had seen something. She waited a few seconds to see if it had just been her imagination. It hadn't.

'Oh shit'.

'What is it?'

'I'm not sure exactly. But there's definitely a man in the trees over there. I just saw him walk a few metres before he went back behind cover'

'Did he look like he'd seen us?'

'I don't think so, he was walking quite casually. And wasn't looking in our direction at all'.

'Well, that's something. Damn. Now we really are going to have to take that fifty mile diversion. We can't risk crossing the bridge. It's just too strange that someone would be there, too much of a coincidence. I guess your sixth sense was finely tuned up this morning, Lizzy'.

'Yeah, I guess so. Great, that's added yet more delays to our journey…..'

'Delays are inevitable in this new world. And so is danger. But at least we've avoided the worst of the two today'

'You're right'

Just as the words left her mouth, a bullet hit the tree next to them, sending splinters of wood all over the place.

'Elizabeth, back to the car. Now!'


	22. Chapter 22

Red and Liz plunged into the trees. They needed to get back out of sight immediately and so any ideas of stealth were forgotten as they leapt over logs and dodged round bushes. Once they were about fifteen metres back into the undergrowth, they slowed down but kept going at as quick a pace they could manage without risking a twisted ankle or head knocked on a branch.

'Red, what are we gonna do? We'll never make it back to the car before they drive over the bridge….'

'We'll need to hide as soon as we hear an engine. These woods are thick so they won't see us. Just gotta hope they don't get out on foot at the right place'

They carried on, running close together, as fast as they dared. Within a minute they heard a car engine and Red slowed and crouched down, pulling Liz down next to him behind a particularly thick tree trunk. Sitting next to each other, they didn't dare speak. The car was going very slowly and would have been no more than twenty metres away from them so neither even ventured a peep round the tree. They just sat and waited. Once the car had moved sufficiently far enough away, Red looked out through the cover of a bush.

'Okay, they're past us. I see some kind of flatbed van with one guy in the rear. He's got a gun. Don't know how many in the cabin'

'Shall we carry on?'

Red paused for just a few more seconds and then got to his feet, 'Yes, but keep as low as you can. No point being fast if it makes us more obvious. And get ready to get low again quickly, they'll soon realise we can't have gotten as far as they have'.

They made it maybe another hundred metres before they heard the car coming back, just as slowly as before. Liz heard it first this time and tugged Red down next to her so they could lie in a shallow ditch. They heard voices from the road but couldn't make out what was being said.

'They'll get out of the car soon. They must know they won't find us this way', Liz whispered directly into Red's ear.

'I know. But if there are only three of them we have the advantage. They don't know where we are and they're making no attempts to hide their position. If we need to we'll take them out and then make a dash for the car'.

'We should split up. Two unknown positions is better than one'.

Red knew she was right but he just couldn't bring himself to leave her side. The idea she might get surrounded or shot when he was too far away to do anything made him pale. He shook his head at her and continued to stare through the bush towards their pursuers.

Liz frowned at him, despite the fact he couldn't see it. 'I can handle it, you know? And it makes better sense tactically. Red?'

'Lizzy, no, please…. Just stay with me'.

Liz sighed and waited. They heard the car going back far enough that they would no longer be visible and got up and started to run some more, keeping low as before. This time the car was gone for a long time and they were making excellent progress back towards their own vehicle before they heard them making another sweep. Red stopped and listened carefully.

'Oh damn. That's more than one engine. I think they've probably brought in reinforcements in order to disembark and search on foot. Come on, Lizzy, we're nearly there. Just run!'

For the next three minutes they ran full out, trying not to imagine bullets whizzing over their heads. When they got to where their car was hidden in the undergrowth Red pulled Liz down behind it and crawled back towards the trunk. Easing it open as quietly as he could, he placed the sniper rifle inside and took out two automatic rifles. He handed one to Liz and they sat and listened.

'As soon as we have what looks like a window we're gonna leap in the car and make a break for it. We can't just stay here like sitting ducks. We don't know how many men they have with them this time, we need to go'.

Liz nodded at him and they peered through the trees, trying to see and hear where the men were. After a minute, they still couldn't really tell. The engine noise was split between quite near them and further back towards the bridge.

'Dammit. We can't wait like this forever, especially not now they've split up. Lizzy, get in the passenger seat, close your door quietly'.

As soon as he'd said this, Red crawled around to the other side of the car and slowly got himself into the driver's seat. The few branches they'd placed over the car would easily be blown off once they started moving so he didn't worry about that. He just needed to know when the best moment for their escape was.

'I'm gonna put the windows down, I need to hear where they are…'

He turned the key one click so the electrics came on but not the engine, wincing subconsciously as he did so. Thankfully he got it right, this would've been the worst moment for him to turn the key too far. He then sent all four windows down and they sat in silence, each keenly listening out for clues as to what was going on. Within a minute they could hear voices from in front of them. Still at quite a distance but most definitely from within the woods themselves.

'Okay, Lizzy, they're on foot. We're gonna have to make a break for it now'.

Red closed the windows and prepared himself. He could remember the small track they'd taken into the woods and knew he could be out and on the road and up to sixty mph within about fifteen seconds.

'This is it'

And with that, he pushed the gas pedal down and they shot forward, branches and leaves flying off the car as they moved. Coming out onto the road at nearly thirty mph he turned the wheel and sent them back the way they came from, flooring the accelerator as he did so. Glancing into the rearview mirror he saw no vehicles within sight and took that as a good omen. Letting his Mercedes do what it was designed for he got it moving and soon they were speeding away from danger, as he concentrated on the road. One mistake here and they were finished.

'Lizzy, get the map out. I'm just gonna keep on the main road so I can maintain a good speed but we're gonna need to get off it soon. I have no idea what the second vehicle is. With our luck today, it'll be a Porsche'.

Liz grabbed the map and stared at it intently. After a few seconds, she saw something promising, 'Okay, we're gonna go over a tiny bridge in probably about a mile. Just after that there's a turnoff onto a dirt track'.

'Where does it go?'

'Looks like just to a farm or house further up'

'No, we don't want a dead end. And we don't want a dirt track, that could leave tyre tracks. When's the next paved road turnoff?'

Liz looked back down and thought carefully. She hadn't even considered either of the possibilities Red had just suggested. Whilst her skills at profiling were sharp, she was pretty rusty at being a good fugitive.

'Right, we need to backtrack. Next good road is one we turned off from earlier. If we go up there for about two miles we'll come to a gas station. We can pull in there and hide the car?'

'It's worth a look. Hold on…..'

Red pushed the car even harder, taking them to nearly one hundred and twenty. The bends on the road were minimal so he was confident they'd be okay. When they got within a hundred metres or so of the turn off, he slowed the car down carefully, so as not to leave burn marks on the road. Pulling onto the intersecting road, he then took the speedometer back up to nearly a hundred. They'd still not seen anything in the mirrors but Red wasn't satisfied they'd done nearly enough as yet.

He saw the gas station in the distance and started to bring the car down to a reasonable speed. Pulling in, he had one last glance in the mirror before the road fell out of sight. Quickly ascertaining that the best place for them to park was behind the station he drove back there and turned off the engine. Leaving the keys in the ignition, he signalled for Liz to get out and they went back down the wall until they were at the corner, with a good view of the road.

'And now we wait…..'

'For how long?'

Red paused, calculating silently in his head, 'At least two hours. We have no idea how determined they are to find us, how close behind us they might be. They can't stop and check every single track or road. We've already given them a lot of variables to deal with in terms of ways we could've gone. If they do come here and it looks like we'll be found, we're gonna have to shoot our way out of this. But I'd rather that than drive like a maniac for much longer. We may not be a needle in a haystack but we're probably a rice noodle in a cauldron of pasta noodles right now'.

Liz couldn't help but snort at his analogy, 'There's always time for some kind of food reference, isn't there?'

'Always, my dear', he said as he turned back to smile at her. 'Even in my darkest moments, I find the thought of my next coq au vin or authentic Spanish paella to be a comfort'.

Liz squeezed his arm and smiled back. 'Are there any more weapons I should get out of the trunk?'

Red pondered momentarily, 'Well, the grenade launcher wouldn't go amiss if they do pull up in a truck full of rednecks'.

'You have a grenade launcher?', she asked, her eyebrows nearly reaching her hairline.

'Of course I do. I brought every weapon that would fit in the car. Don't have much ammo for it but I knew it would probably come in handy at least once'

Liz went back to the trunk and opened it. Sure enough, under enough other weapons to arm a small militia, she found a large black bag. Opening it, she pulled out the launcher and a couple of rounds. Shaking her head at the same time as smiling to herself, she took it back to where Red was diligently watching the road and left it at his feet.

'Thank you, my dear'

'You're welcome. Always happen to supply illegal arms to a US fugitive'.

Red chuckled but didn't take his eyes from the road they'd just travelled. He was confident that the people chasing them wouldn't go crazy over finding them. He and Liz had retreated, had offered no return fire. What did they have to gain from a prolonged search now they were clearly gone?

Liz sat at Red's feet and started to doodle in the sandy soil with her finger. Even though she was hugely relieved that her hunch earlier had saved them from possible disaster, she also felt disheartened that the world out beyond their safe farmhouse was so predictably violent and dangerous now. How many good people were left versus the people who had turned quickly to crime and disorder as a way to live? Even though all power and technology and communications were now gone, there was still plenty of food and places for people to live that they should all get along just fine. At some stage, they would all need to start thinking about growing further crops and raising livestock but they were a long way from that point now. And yet, people were so quick to look for the easy route. The one that involved hurting others and stealing from them. In the course of doing that, the distrust and fear grew ever more.

Red glanced down at Liz, worried by her silence. He saw she had, possibly unknowingly, drawn a picture of the peace symbol at his feet, surrounded by flowers. His heart ached for her. His life had been chaos and disorder and pain for as long as he could remember, this new world didn't surprise him at all. But for Liz, she was struggling to adjust, especially with what had happened to her. His lip curled with disgust and hatred at the very thought of it and he looked back towards the road. No one would ever get the chance to get close to scaring her like that ever again.

As if on cue, he heard a car approaching from the direction of the bridge. Reaching back down towards Liz, he said in the calmest voice he could muster,

'Sweetheart, hand me the grenade launcher'.


	23. Chapter 23

Liz passed the weapon to Red and switched the safety off on her own rifle. She had absolutely no desire to hurt these people, even if they had already taken a shot at them. For all she and Red knew, maybe they'd been invaded before and were now using attack as a form of defence. Or maybe they had an ongoing fight with another group nearby. This could all just be a huge misunderstanding. However, if there wasn't going to be an opportunity for words before these people shot again, she was ready to protect herself and Red.

The noise of the car engine got louder and they were clearly nearly upon them. Red had loaded the launcher and left it leaning against the wall. He stood with his rifle ready and peered around the corner, only an inch or so of his head visible. He held his breath as the car grew visible and readied himself.

As soon as the car came abreast with the gas station, it paused but left the engine running. The men inside all looked carefully out, their guns raised and ready to fire. After a few seconds, they could hear them debating what to do.

'They could be here'

'They could be anywhere, here's no more likely'

'It's as good a place as any'

'Stevie, we've passed a hundred places already they coulda hidden. And the other guys will have passed another hundred. It don't have to be some building, they could be behind some trees or down an old farm track. This is a waste of time. All that matters is they're gone. Let's call off this goddamn wild goose chase and get back. For all we know they've doubled back and are attacking the compound right now!'

The man's words seemed to hit home with the other men in the vehicle, with the exception of Stevie, who still wanted to get out for a look. But he was overruled and so the driver pulled into the forecourt of the station and turned the car around, little knowing that at one point he was just ten metres away from his quarry. Driving back onto the road they shot off like the hounds of hell were upon their tails and the engine noise soon faded away to nothing.

Red heaved a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon, turning back to Liz. She looked at him, a small smile on her face, but the worry lines on her forehead gave away her true emotions.

'So, we did it', Red said as he took Liz's rifle from her and placed it along with his own on the back seat, the launcher going back in the trunk.

'What now?'

'Now?'

'Yeah, should we stay here or get further away?'

Red pondered for a moment, 'Well, here worked once but it's too open for us to stay here. I wouldn't sleep a wink. I think we should carry on and find somewhere we can really hide ourselves. We need to get towards that other bridge anyway so might as well see what we can find along the way'.

Liz nodded and they got back into the car. Driving to the edge of the road, Red took one last look back where they'd come from and then turned in the opposite direction. Taking the car up to 50mph, he settled back and asked Liz to consult the map for how to get to the other bridge. After a couple of minutes she'd still not said anything and he glanced over at her. She wasn't even looking at the map, merely staring out the window.

'What's on your mind?'

'Huh?'

Well, unless you're trying to figure out the right way to go by the position of the sun, I'm guessing you're not plotting a route right now'

'Sorry…..'

'No need to apologise. Tell me'.

'I don't think we should go to Charleston'

Red winced, he had thought this might be her issue. However, he needed to persuade her otherwise, if at all possible.

'Why?'

'Built up areas are just too dangerous. It's hard enough finding a small rural community without danger, can you imagine what a city will be like? We'll be surrounded by buildings and unknowns the whole time, with no clue where we might be attacked from. And the people there may have been there since the start, they'll have the whole place properly guarded and maybe even booby trapped'

Red considered her words, knowing there was sense in them. But he didn't know what option they had otherwise if they ever wanted to meet up with Dembe and his family.

'Lizzy, Dembe may be heading there right now'

'I know….. But in all likelihood he isn't. Think how long it's been since you last saw him. And then how short a time it's been since we left that note at the shack. Chances are, even if he is heading there, he's not been there in the last few days'

'Okay….'

'I think we'd be better off going back to the shack and leaving another note. One that will direct him elsewhere. I know we can't give him the address of the farmhouse in case someone else finds the note but there must be another container somewhere, or another safe house you've used nearby….. Or even just somewhere you did something together he would remember. Can you think of anywhere?'

Red pulled the car to the side of the road and undid his seatbelt. He leant over and took Liz's head in his hands and planted a giant kiss on her mouth.

'Elizabeth Keen, you are a genius'

Liz laughed at him, pleased he wasn't angry with her. When he'd pulled over so abruptly and grabbed her, she'd felt sure she was in for some kind of stern pep talk.

'I am?', she replied, smiling at him happily.

'You are. It is now official. There's a hotel about twenty miles north of Charleston, in the middle of nowhere. Dembe and I once spent a few days there when we were searching for someone who had gone to ground in the area. We can go there and leave a note somewhere only he will find. And I know just the place!'

Red leaned back in and kissed her again, much more gently this time, before pulling back and smiling at her, his eyes twinkling.

'We will now need to go back to the shack to amend the first note though. I'm sure if Dembe has been there since our last visit, he would've left some kind of sign that he had seen our message. So we'll know then if he's on his way to Charleston or not'.

'So, it's back to the shack. Again….'

'I'm afraid so. However, not today. It's getting late and I don't want to be driving at night. We'll find somewhere near here to put a tent up and start back first thing in the morning'.

'Sounds like a plan, Mr Reddington', Liz said as she reached over and squeezed his hand.

Red started the car up again and pulled away, 'Find somewhere on the map that looks quiet like last night. That waterfall and nature trail was perfect, is there anything like that near here or on the way to the shack? We've got maybe three hours till it's dark'.

After a few minutes of looking, Liz sighed, 'I can't see anything. There are some woods about ten miles away though, they look wild rather than part of farmland or anything. I'm sure we'll find something there'.

'It's worth a look. Lead the way, Madam'

The woods turned out to be perfect. They were, indeed, wild and thickly forested. There were also a few tiny tracks they could take the car up and keep it well hidden from the road. The track they went up had overgrown terribly since the 'end of the world' and so they were confident no one else had been using it. Driving right to the very end, they came to a small area where they could park and put up the tent. It was dark and dreary and nowhere near as pleasant as the night before's accommodation but it felt safe and abandoned.

Red started to put the tent up and Liz got the fire going. It was a cold night and they both wanted some comfort and some warm food. They had reasoned that due to the density of the forest and the distance from the road, they would be as safe as they could be from potential intruders who may've spotted their flames or smoke. Plus they both intended to sleep with their firearms to hand.

Just as dusk was falling, they had each completed their tasks. Red sat down next to Liz by the fire and moved to sit as close to her as he could, putting his arm around her shoulders.

'Well, this is actually quite romantic'

She smiled at him and kissed him on the tip of his nose, 'Yes, it is'.

'And what is the house special this evening?'

'It's chili con carne'

'Ooh, sounds exotic'

Liz giggled as Red's eyes lit up at the prospect of warm, meaty food.

'Has Sir never tried this particular dish before? It might not be to his taste?'

Red lifted a disparaging eyebrow towards her, 'Have you seen me turn down any food offered to me? Ever?'

'Good point', she said as she handed him a small metal bowl from their camping set, full of steaming hot chili.

'Oh my, this is perfect camp out food', Red said as he spooned some into his mouth.

'Aaaarrrrhhhh'

'Hot?'

'Yes', Red said as he hurriedly poured some water in after the chili.

'It might help if you didn't have the patience of a Labrador puppy when it came to food, you know'

'Mmmm….. Sorry, I didn't realise how hungry I was until the smell hit my nostrils'

'No need to apologise to me, it's your mouth that requires a sorry'

Red pointedly put his bowl down and sat on his hands, 'I shall not even attempt to eat any more until you say I can'

Liz laughed out loud and bumped him with her shoulder, 'Right, okay, let's see how long that'll last'.

'I promise you I shan't'

'You do realise the unbelievable power that gives me over you right now, don't you? There's no way you could hold off until I let you eat', Liz said as she rolled her eyes at him.

'Well, when you put it like that… Okay, if you don't let me eat anything, once you've deemed it cool enough to eat yourself, I won't be kissing you for a week'

Liz looked at him, her mouth falling open.

'Thought that would work'

'So you don't want to kiss me for a week?'

'Well, no…..'

'And you don't want any chili?'

'No…'

'You must be hungry. I've never seen you think anything through so poorly before'

Red huffed and rested his chin on his chest, 'Okay, you win. Please tell me when's it cool enough'

Liz tried a spoonful, blowing on it carefully. She then took another spoonful, blew on it and offered it to Red.

'There you go'

Red opened his mouth and tentatively took the spoon into it, 'Mmmmm, that's good'

'Honestly, you must have been a nightmare child'

'I believe I was, yes'

'Still, you turned out all right', Liz said as she picked up her bowl and snuggled into his side.

They ate together and watched the flames of the fire dance for some time before calling it a night. Getting into the tent, Liz made herself at home lying right next to Red, her head on his chest and her arm across his midriff.

'Goodnight, Raymond'

Red's eyes opened in shock at the use of his given name but he didn't hesitate to lean down and kiss Liz on the forehead, pulling her in even tighter to him at the same time.

'Goodnight, Lizzy'


	24. Chapter 24

Liz and Red packed up their tent after a quick breakfast the next morning and got straight on the road. The journey, for once, was uneventful and they arrived back at the shack before lunchtime. Pulling up next to it in the trees and hiding the car, they then carried their bags inside. They had decided they may as well stay here for the night seeing as there was now no rush to get to Charleston. Assuming, of course, Dembe had not been here yet.

Red checked the note as soon as he stepped in the door. It hadn't moved an inch and nothing had been added to it. Heaving a sigh of relief, he tore it up and started to compose a new letter to his friend. Although he was glad that Dembe hadn't been here and moved on, he was concerned that he hadn't yet made it here at all. But he had no idea what Dembe was dealing with, maybe he had just decided it was too dangerous to attempt to cross so much of the now lawless countryside with his daughter and young granddaughter. Despite that possibility, Red would keep trying to contact him, just in case he needed his help.

As Red was writing his new letter, Liz busied herself preparing them some lunch. As soon as he'd finished, he pulled up his plate and started eating with gusto, looking like a man who'd not eaten for weeks. Liz shook her head and smiled at the top of his head as he leant over his plate, devouring its contents.

'You really do like your food, don't you?'

Red stopped chewing, mid-mouthful and looked up at her. As his mouth was too full to reply, he merely shrugged and nodded at her, making her laugh. She loved this man. Every single thing about him made her glow with happiness. She really did think now that she was ready to take their relationship to the next level. She trusted him completely and she was determined not to let what had happened to her before ruin her chance of happiness with Red.

'So, Lizzy', Red said as he eventually finished eating, 'We need to go and check the farmhouse hasn't been reoccupied since we were last here. Then we can relax'.

Liz blanched. Her attacker was still lying in an upstairs bedroom in that house. Just the thought of seeing him again, even though he'd now be a decaying corpse, made her feel anxious.

'However, although we can go there together, I'll go in alone. You keep guard outside. That sound okay?'

Liz knew exactly why Red had suggested that and she felt tears prick at her eyes. She reached over and squeezed his hand, nodding silently at him.

'Okay. Well, give it an hour so our food can go down a little and then let's set out. In the meantime, fancy a game of poker?'

Red pulled out a pack of cards from a drawer at the table and started shuffling them dramatically, his eyebrow raised in a challenge to her. She laughed at him and nodded, 'Sure, why not? What are the chips gonna be?'

'Hmmmmm…. Let's see….. We'll each have the equivalent of $100, the blinds can be $2 and $4. Whoever wins doesn't have to do any washing up for a week'

'Oh, you're on!'

And so the game commenced. From the start Liz was doing really well. So well, in fact, she was taking every opportunity to gloat over Red, celebrating each won hand with a jig around the room. Red watched her, a glint in his eye, over the moon to see her so happy but also feeling the need to just grab her and kiss her silly. Alas, unbeknownst to her, he was hustling her. Bless her, Liz was absolutely terrible at bluffing. And he knew full well by now he could've bluffed her easily. But her happiness meant he let her win. At the end of the game, he threw down his cards in 'anger' and stood up abruptly from the table.

'Goddammit! Those were the worst cards I've ever had in my life!'

Liz danced up to him from where she was celebrating by twirling around the table and took his hands, placing them on her hips,

'Only a bad poker player blames his cards, Red'

Red huffed at her and scowled. But he then let himself be pulled into her dancing rhythm, their hips swaying together to imaginary music. He couldn't help but smile back at the enormous grin on her face. Oh, he would be a dead man if he told her he'd deliberately lost, he thought. And seeing her this happy made him just as happy himself. He didn't want the moment to end but it had already been nearly two hours since they'd finished eating and they needed to ensure the farmhouse was empty before they could settle down for the rest of the day. Reluctantly he pulled away and turned to pick up his rifle and handgun, ready for a quick assessment of their nearest neighbouring property

'Aw, already?'

'We can be there and back in ninety minutes, Lizzy. And then I demand a rematch!'

'Okay, party pooper. But what about next time, we'll play strip poker?'

'Did I say ninety minutes, I meant sixty', Red managed to get out before he lost the power of speech.

She grinned at him and tugged at his arm, eager to get him out of the door and back again. She was ready for this, she knew that now. Just dancing with him had aroused her incredibly, the way their bodies had fitted together and responded to each other and she longed to feel him move inside her.

The journey to the farmhouse was as quick as it could be, as they darted through the trees and then made their way across the final field. After a quick inspection of the outside of the property, they both decided it seemed as though nothing had changed. Red left Liz on the front porch and ventured inside.

As soon as he entered the hall the smell hit him. Dead bodies were not a smell he would ever get used to but he knew for certain that no one would be here now. Anyone who had decided to make this their home would most definitely have moved the body first. Even so he dutifully checked around the whole building just in case. Entering the room the dead man lay in, Red's eyes started to water. Dear lord, the smell was almost overwhelming. He took one glance at the man on the bed, curled his upper lip in a snarl and then made his way back outside.

'All clear'

'Yeah?'

'Definitely. No one has been here since we were. Now, I do believe there was some talk of a rematch?'

Liz grabbed Red's arm and hooked her own through it, 'I believe there may have been. I do have a question for you though'

'Hmmm?'

'I don't suppose you brought any wine with you on this trip?'

Red stopped suddenly, a grimace on his face, allowing Liz a moment to doubt him.

'Oh, never mind, I'm sure we'll….'

'Of course I did, Elizabeth. Honestly, what do you take me for?'

Liz poked him in the ribs and started dragging him back to the shack, 'I think for that tease alone you should remove one item of clothing before we even start'

'Well, if you insist'

'Red, you're not supposed to be happy to lose! That ruins the fun'.

'Oh, I have no intention of losing'

'And you need to start off with the same number of items of clothing as I have. Don't be digging out a three piece suit with tie, overcoat, scarf….'

Red laughed at her and held her hand, 'I promise we shall each start with the same number of things to remove. Let's see, ten should be enough'.

'Ten?', Liz started imagining in her mind what the ten could be.

'So, two socks, underwear, pants, top, sweater… I only get six. And I have a bra too'.

'I have some gloves in the shack somewhere. We can have one each'

'Okay, that's still only seven. And you don't have a bra'.

'I never felt the need…'

Liz poked him in the ribs again and laughed, 'You can wear a tie instead. And we'll start with our shoes on. That's nine then'

'Lizzy, you've forgotten the most important item'

'Erm….'

Red stopped and took his hat off, bowing to her like to a queen.

'Of course! You have a spare, right?'

'Another silly question…'

'Did the end of the world make any difference to your outlook on your wardrobe?'

'I iron less'

Before they knew it, they were back at the shack and starting to gather the clothing they'd be wearing. When they were done, Liz picked up the deck and dealt the first hand. She raised an eyebrow at Red provocatively and he merely smiled back at her, his face almost unreadable. Suddenly she had an awful feeling she was being played. He looked entirely too confident. However, she also realised that she found that idea very sexy. Whilst Red being cocky and smug sometimes drove her mad, she liked the idea of him feeling that way now. He was clearly confident and happy about the notion of seeing her naked. Trying to gather her thoughts, she paid attention to the cards in her hand and they started the game.

The first four hands were won equally and so upon starting the fifth hand they were both shoeless. Liz then won the next two hands and Red removed his socks. She suddenly felt nervous. She just knew she wasn't going to win and that in no time she'd be naked in front of him. Steeling herself, she dealt again and they played on.

With just a maximum of seven hands to play Liz was wearing her panties, pants, bra and a shirt. Red was in his boxers, pants and his shirt. She couldn't believe she was winning. Whoever lost the next hand was going to have to remove something truly revealing. Red dealt the cards and Liz couldn't believe her eyes when she had a pocket rocket, two Aces. As they played the hand out, Liz found herself in possession of another ace. There were also two Jacks on the table but Red would need to have the other two in his hand to beat her. They raced to the finish line.

'Ha, beat that! Three of a kind, Aces!'

'Oh, what a wonderful hand, Elizabeth'

'You betcha'

'It's a shame it wasn't quite enough…..', Red said as he laid two Jacks down on the table.

Liz stared at them and gulped. Damn him! Looking down at her clothing, she decided to remove her pants rather than her shirt. At least her legs were hidden under the table. Red smirked at her as she shuffled out of them without getting off her chair and they carried on.

Two more hands and Liz was down to just her bra and panties and Red had removed his pants and was clad only in his boxers and shirt. He too had chosen to remove his pants rather than his shirt. But for very different reasons to Liz. Although he was also grateful that the table hid his lower half.

Liz dealt the next hand. It wasn't even close, she had absolutely nothing and she was too nervous to bluff. Reaching behind her, she unclasped her bra and took it off, too shy even to look up at Red anymore. His eyes grew dark at the sight of her breasts so tantalisingly close and free, he longed so much to cup them in his hands. He dragged his eyes away and forced himself to think about the next hand. He needed her to be naked in front of him as soon as humanly possible. He didn't actually care whether he lost and got naked first, he had no body shame whatsoever, but he just couldn't wait to know she was completely free from all constraints and sitting just a few feet from him.

They played the next hand. Liz lost. As she reached down to remove her panties, her courage failed her. Despite the wine they'd been drinking over the course of the game, she suddenly found herself at an impasse. She so wanted to be with Red tonight but somehow the formality of this game had killed her spontaneity. She looked up at him coyly. He read her expression at once and placed the deck of cards to the side. Standing up, carefully allowing his shirt to cover his painfully hard erection, he walked around the table to Liz and helped her to her feet, pulling her in close to him for a hug.

As they held each other, he reached down and lifted Liz's shirt from the back of her chair. He pulled it around her shoulders and did up a couple of the buttons. Then he took her chin with his fingertips and lifted her eyes to his.

'Elizabeth, you are astonishingly beautiful. But you don't need to do anything more'

Saying that, he turned his head and kissed her oh so gently. At first she was still a little tense but within seconds she felt her inhibitions fall away. Starting to kiss him back she found all her longing and confidence and primitive need for this man returning. She lifted her hands and unbuttoned her shirt again.

'I want to, Red. I'm ready'

He looked at her, his eyes full of wonder. Then he smiled and kissed her again, a little more hungrily this time. She took his hand and backed them both towards the bed. Sitting down, she pulled him towards her so he stood over her as she looked up adoringly at him.

'Make love to me, Raymond'


End file.
